Unlimit Secures Hong Kong MSO Licence to Accelerate APAC Cross-Border Payment Expansion

Unlimit has secured a money service operator license from Hong Kong’s Commissioner of Customs and Excise, marking a critical expansion of its regulatory footprint in the Asia-Pacific region. For fintech professionals, this move signals a deepening of cross-border payment infrastructure in one of the world's most active foreign exchange hubs, facilitating easier entry into fragmented Asian markets.

What was announced

Unlimit has officially secured a money service operator (MSO) licence from Hong Kong's Commissioner of Customs and Excise. This regulatory milestone establishes the company as a licensed entity within one of the world’s most significant financial hubs, serving as a strategic base for its broader expansion across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. By operating from this Hong Kong hub, Unlimit will add local payment channels for businesses navigating the diverse and often fragmented markets of the region.

The importance of Hong Kong to the global financial landscape is underscored by its ranking as the world's fourth-largest foreign exchange centre in the 2025 Triennial Central Bank Survey. Data from that survey revealed that the average daily turnover in Hong Kong reached US$883 billion in April 2025, representing a 27% increase from April 2022. This growth highlights the city's increasing dominance in global capital flows and its role as a primary gateway for international commerce.

The new licence allows Unlimit to integrate its proprietary payment network—which already spans more than 180 countries and supports over 150 currencies—more deeply into the Asian financial ecosystem. The infrastructure is designed to support cross-border commerce for a variety of participants, including traditional businesses, individual consumers, and emerging AI agents within the "agentic economy." This move specifically targets the complexity of managing multiple currencies and local payment systems that often act as a barrier to entry for firms looking to scale within APAC.

"Asia-Pacific is not a unified payments market. Companies entering new markets in the region must navigate different currencies, payment systems and regulatory requirements," said Michele Fung, Head of APAC at Unlimit. "The Hong Kong licence will enable us to help them manage this complexity and move money across borders as they grow."

Michele Fung, Head of APAC at Unlimit.

The companies involved

Founded in 2009, Unlimit has evolved into a major global financial infrastructure provider, maintaining dual headquarters in San Francisco and London. The company operates a network of 17 offices worldwide, positioning itself as a bridge between traditional finance and the emerging digital economy. Its client roster includes high-profile global brands such as Xiaomi, Telegram, Convera, and inDrive, reflecting its capacity to handle high-volume, cross-border transactions for diverse sectors ranging from mobile technology to messaging and ride-hailing.

Under the leadership of Founder and CEO Kirill Eves, Unlimit has developed a comprehensive suite of financial services. Central to its offering is Stable.com, a full-service financial platform designed for both businesses and individuals. This platform is built around a single global account that provides users with local payment details, effectively streamlining international operations. The service combines multi-currency balances, corporate cards, and treasury management with access to tokenised assets and non-custodial Decentralised Finance (DeFi). This multi-layered approach allows Unlimit to serve the "agentic economy," where autonomous AI agents require seamless, programmatic access to financial systems.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has closely followed Unlimit’s rapid regulatory and commercial expansion throughout 2026. Just days prior to the Hong Kong announcement, the company entered a strategic collaboration to facilitate high-volume transactions in South Asia, as reported in Hopscotch Partners with Unlimit to Scale Payments for India’s Peak Shopping Seasons. This followed a significant push into the European digital asset space, where the firm achieved dual regulatory successes.

In August, the publication covered how Unlimit Secures EU Digital-Asset Service Provider License to Expand Crypto Ecosystem, which was preceded by the company obtaining Unlimit Secures MiCA Authorisation to Expand Digital-Asset Services Across the European Union. Additionally, Unlimit’s work with major hardware manufacturers was highlighted in Unlimit and Xiaomi GetApps Expand Partnership to Scale Global Gaming Payments, demonstrating the company's role in scaling global gaming ecosystems through specialized payment infrastructure.

What this means

The acquisition of a Hong Kong MSO licence is a calculated move to capture the massive FX turnover currently surging through the city. While many fintechs treat APAC as a secondary market, the regulatory complexity of the region creates a high barrier to entry that rewards infrastructure players with deep local licensing. This announcement puts pressure on regional incumbents who have relied on legacy banking relationships to facilitate cross-border flows. Furthermore, Unlimit’s explicit focus on the "agentic economy" raises a critical question for the sector: are traditional payment rails prepared for the speed and volume of AI-driven transactions, or will licensed, crypto-native infrastructure like Stable.com become the new standard for global commerce?