Gemini Digital Payments Singapore Secures a Major Payment Institution Licence From MAS
Gemini Digital Payments Singapore Pte Ltd has been granted a Major Payment Institution (MPI) licence by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, according to Fintech News Singapore and CryptoTimes. The licence covers digital payment token services and cross-border money transfer services, and follows the in-principle approval MAS granted in October 2024 and the migration of Gemini's Singapore customers to the local entity that Gemini completed in April 2025.
Co-Founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss said the licence "validates our commitment and investment into Singapore," where Gemini has operated since 2020 offering spot trading, digital asset custody and over-the-counter services. Unlike a standard payment institution licence, the MPI tier carries no transaction-volume cap but comes with broader regulatory obligations, including anti-money-laundering controls and technology risk management requirements.
Webull Completes Its ~$100 Million Acquisition of Thailand's Pi Securities, Targets THB 200 Billion in Combined AUM
Webull Corporation completed its acquisition of 99.36% of Pi Securities Public Company Limited on August 31, 2026, after receiving approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand, according to a Webull disclosure carried by Manila Times/PR Newswire and reported by StockTitan. Webull paid roughly $90 million for Country Group Holdings' 90.98% controlling stake and a further $10 million for another shareholder's 8.38% stake, for a total deal value of approximately $100 million first disclosed to the Stock Exchange of Thailand on June 29, 2026, per Investing.com.
Pi Securities brings more than 50 years in Thailand's capital markets and makes Webull Thailand the ninth member of the Stock Exchange of Thailand; Webull itself serves more than 27 million registered users globally. Both brands will continue operating independently in an initial phase, with CEO Chonladet Khemarattana saying the integration will focus on "combining Pi Securities' local research expertise and investment specialists with Webull's technology, data and AI capabilities" toward a combined THB 200 billion assets-under-management target.
Vietnam's App Exporters Draw $22 Million in Revenue-Based Financing as PvX Partners Backs Two Deals in Five Days
Singapore-based lender PvX Partners deployed $22 million in non-dilutive, revenue-based financing to two Vietnam-rooted app companies within a five-day span, according to Entrepreneur Asia Pacific. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City mobile game developer Skylink Studio secured up to $12 million on September 4 to scale user-acquisition campaigns and publishing infrastructure, while consumer and AI-app company Tevo — whose founder and operational core sit in Hanoi despite a Hong Kong corporate registration — secured $10 million on September 8 to grow marketing spend, expand into priority markets and fund AI feature integration across its portfolio of more than 45 applications with roughly 200 million global installations.
Under PvX's financing structure, repayment is tied directly to the cash flows generated by the specific user cohorts the capital acquires, with PvX capping its own upside at a predetermined threshold and sharing downside risk if campaigns underperform — letting founders keep their equity. PvX raised a $10.5 million Series A in April 2026 backed by T-Accelerate Capital, Z Venture Capital, Drive by DraftKings, Square Enix, Play Ventures and General Catalyst, and has since scaled its committed user-acquisition financing facilities to $750 million. The backdrop: Vietnamese-developed mobile games logged 4.9 billion global downloads in 2025, second only to China's 5.3 billion, with 95% of that consumption occurring outside Vietnam.
Eyes on the Day Ahead
Nothing firm is scheduled in the next 24-48 hours, so pivoting slightly further out: Thailand's SEC keeps its consultation on retail access to regulated overseas crypto derivatives open through September 30, and Malaysia's MIDA hosts Data Centre Nexus 2026 in Kuala Lumpur on September 14, where hyperscalers, cloud operators and policymakers convene on the country's AI compute buildout — the next two scheduled checkpoints worth tracking.
Layer 7 Ventures is a research-driven firm focused on AI and cryptocurrency in Southeast Asia. Views expressed are those of the firm and do not constitute investment advice.
