Ripple has widened its regulatory foothold in Singapore after receiving approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to expand the scope of its Major Payment Institution (MPI) license. The move unlocks broader use of Ripple’s blockchain-powered payment solutions and strengthens the regional pathway for RLUSD and XRP adoption.
The approval, announced December 1, allows Ripple Markets APAC Pte. Ltd. to offer an enlarged suite of regulated payment services, marking a significant step in the company’s long-term strategy to partner closely with global financial institutions.
MAS Greenlights Expanded Payment Capabilities
Singapore has remained one of Ripple’s most important regulatory partners, and MAS’s latest authorization reinforces that relationship. The expanded MPI license gives Ripple the ability to scale services for cross-border transactions, digital asset settlement, and institutional payment flows.
Monica Long, Ripple’s president, praised Singapore’s “leading standard for digital-asset clarity,” noting that the approval enables deeper investment and the continued rollout of secure, high-speed financial infrastructure. Ripple emphasized that its compliance and transparency commitments remain central to its operating model.
Broader Adoption for Ripple Payments
The enhanced license paves the way for wider deployment of Ripple Payments, the company’s core enterprise solution that powers fast and transparent cross-border transactions. With the MPI upgrade, Ripple can now handle the underlying blockchain workload for institutions without requiring banks or fintech clients to manage the technological complexity themselves.
Ripple Payments offers multiple advantages:
- Supports digital asset settlement using XRP and stablecoin RLUSD
- Reduces operational friction across global payment corridors
- Provides full on-ramp and off-ramp infrastructure
- Eliminates the need for banks to manage digital assets directly
Asia Pacific remains one of the world’s most active crypto regions, recording nearly 70% year-over-year growth in on-chain activity. Ripple calls Singapore a “central hub” for its enterprise expansion.
Recent collaborations, including a pilot with Mastercard and Gemini to test RLUSD settlement for fiat card payments, further highlight Ripple’s ambitions in blockchain-based transaction systems.
XRP Price Drops Despite Positive Regulatory Momentum
Despite the regulatory win, XRP slipped more than 7%, trading at $2.04 with a daily high of $2.21. The decline mirrors broader market weakness, though trading volume surged 57%, signaling heightened interest during the selloff.
Derivatives data from CoinGlass showed additional pressure, with XRP futures open interest dropping 3% in four hours and nearly 8% over 24 hours, reflecting short-term bearish sentiment among leveraged traders.
