Circle, the company that issues USDC stablecoin, recently announced that it has been granted a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license for digital payment token services in Singapore. This license was issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and allows the company to provide digital payment token services, cross-border and domestic money transfer services in the city-state.

Commenting on this news, Circle’s CEO, Jeremy Allaire said, “Singapore is integral to Circle’s global expansion and mission in raising global economic prosperity and through the frictionless exchange of value. We are honored to receive the MPI license from MAS and we remain committed to being part of Singapore’s dynamic economy by advancing the future of financial technology innovations in the city-state, uplifting its emerging technology and fintech sector, and creating business and career opportunities for its technology and financial industry talent.”

Despite Circle receiving this license, its USDC stablecoin has suffered this year due to the banking crisis in the United States. As the second-largest stablecoin by market cap, USDC has fallen behind Tether’s USDT in recent months. Currently, Tether’s USDT has a market cap of $80.2 billion, more than double that of USDC ($32.75 billion).

In response to the developments in this sector, MAS proposed stablecoin regulation last year, which introduced capital and reserve requirements for issuers and banned activities such as staking and lending.