Ripple won expanded approval from Singapore regulators on Dec. 1, 2025, as the Monetary Authority of Singapore broadened the Major Payment Institution (MPI) license held by Ripple Markets APAC. The approval arrives amid ~70% year-over-year growth in Asia-Pacific on-chain activity and enables Ripple to scale regulated services for collection, holding, swapping and payouts.
Expanded MPI scope enables end-to-end regulated token payments
The expanded MPI license authorizes an end-to-end payments platform that integrates digital payment tokens with a global payout network. The framework allows banks, fintechs and crypto firms to offload blockchain infrastructure and operational complexity to a regulated service provider.
A Major Payment Institution (MPI) is licensed under Singapore’s Payment Services Act to provide specified payments services, while a digital payment token (DPT) represents value transmitted on a distributed ledger. The permitted scope covers custody, token swaps, collection and payouts for institutional flows.
Ripple’s technical stack in Singapore integrates XRP and the USD-backed stablecoin RLUSD, which launched in January 2025 and is recognized within the Abu Dhabi Global Market. Ripple positions both assets as compliance-first components designed to accelerate international transfers and reduce reconciliation overhead.
The architecture centralizes token conversion, on-/off-ramp logic and settlement into one operator, lowering latency and reducing counterparty coordination across borders.
Singapore has issued 33 MPI licenses for DPT services, illustrating a regulatory environment that prioritizes clear licensing pathways. Ripple leadership highlighted regulatory clarity as a catalyst for enterprise adoption and regional growth.
Monica Long remarked that “innovation thrives when rules are clear,” while Fiona Murray stated that the expansion equips institutions to engage more fully with regional demand for regulated token payments.
For banks and corporates, the license removes a key adoption barrier by shifting custody and conversion risk to a licensed operator. The consolidation of collection, holding and payout functions under one MPI reduces integration points and decreases reconciliation surface across payment flows.
Companies onboarding may focus on liquidity conditions for XRP and RLUSD, KYC/AML interfacing and settlement-time SLAs as they integrate tokenized rails into treasury operations.
The Singapore decision transforms regulatory authorization into deployable operational capacity, positioning Ripple to lift institutional throughput in a region experiencing ~70% annual on-chain growth.
