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Gemini Digital Payments Singapore Pte. Ltd. converted its October 2024 in-principle approval into a full Major Payment Institution license from Singapore’s Monetary Authority on September 8, 2026, clearing the exchange to offer regulated digital payment token services to retail and institutional customers.
The approval allows Gemini’s Singapore entity to provide regulated digital payment token services under Singapore’s Payment Services Act and strengthens the exchange’s ability to serve both retail and institutional customers in the country.
Gemini has operated in Singapore since 2020, making the country an important part of its international expansion strategy.
The exchange currently offers spot trading for digital assets in Singapore, alongside custody and over-the-counter services.
Gemini President and co-founder Cameron Winklevoss said the license validates the company’s investment in Singapore, while CEO and co-founder Tyler Winklevoss described the country as a strategic hub because of its regulatory framework and position as a global financial centre.
The exchange had previously operated under an in-principle approval, meaning MAS had indicated that Gemini could move toward a full MPI license but had not yet granted the final authorization.
Singapore uses the MPI framework to regulate payment service providers that operate at a scale where stronger regulatory requirements are necessary.
For Gemini, the approval provides a regulated foundation for its digital payment token services in one of Asia’s most established financial markets.
It also adds to the exchange’s broader push to build a regulated global footprint.
Gemini has been expanding its regulatory approvals across different markets while moving beyond its traditional crypto-exchange business into areas including derivatives, prediction markets and tokenized assets.
Singapore has positioned itself as one of Asia’s major financial and digital-asset hubs.
Its regulatory framework has attracted global crypto companies seeking access to Asian markets while requiring digital-asset businesses to meet licensing and compliance standards.
That makes the country important for Gemini as competition among global exchanges increases.
Instead of simply expanding into more countries, Gemini is trying to establish regulated operations in key financial centres.
Singapore gives the exchange access to an important institutional and retail market while providing a regulatory framework that can support its longer-term Asia-Pacific ambitions.
The license could also make it easier for Gemini to build relationships with financial institutions and other businesses that prefer dealing with regulated digital-asset providers.
The Singapore approval comes at a time when Gemini is broadening the products it offers.
The company has been moving into areas that extend beyond conventional spot crypto trading, including regulated prediction markets and tokenized equities.
In August, Gemini announced a partnership with Apex Fintech Solutions to bring its regulated crypto prediction markets to Apex’s brokerage network.
The broader strategy is significant because major crypto exchanges are increasingly competing to become full financial platforms rather than relying only on cryptocurrency trading fees.
For Gemini, regulatory approvals can provide the foundation for that expansion.
The company has also been building its presence in derivatives and other regulated financial products, giving it several potential sources of growth as the crypto market matures.
For years, crypto exchanges often treated regulation as a major obstacle to international expansion.
As governments introduce clearer rules for digital assets, exchanges with licenses in major financial centres can use regulatory compliance as part of their competitive advantage.
Gemini’s Singapore license is an example of that shift.
The company can now point to a full MAS authorization when building its regulated presence in the region, while customers and institutional partners gain a clearer picture of the regulatory framework governing its Singapore operations.
That does not remove the risks associated with crypto markets.
Digital assets remain volatile, and regulators continue to impose restrictions on how certain crypto products can be offered to retail customers.
But for an exchange seeking long-term growth, operating within established regulatory frameworks can be as important as expanding its product range.
Gemini’s Singapore license comes as the exchange seeks to expand its international footprint while navigating increasingly different regulatory regimes around the world.
The company has described its international expansion as a vital part of its strategy, particularly across Asia-Pacific and other major markets.
Singapore is therefore more than another country on Gemini’s list.
It gives the exchange a regulated base in a major financial centre at a time when crypto companies are increasingly competing for institutional customers and mainstream financial partnerships.
The challenge now is turning that regulatory approval into actual growth.
Gemini will need to attract more users, deepen institutional activity and successfully introduce new products without running into the regulatory problems that have complicated crypto expansion in other markets.
The MAS license gives Gemini the regulatory foundation.
What the exchange does with it will determine whether Singapore becomes a major growth engine for its Asia-Pacific business.
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