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MAS finalised its single-currency stablecoin (SCS) regulatory framework on 15 August 2023, applying to SCS pegged to SGD or a G10 currency and issued in Singapore. Qualifying issuers may earn the 'MAS-regulated stablecoin' label subject to 100% high-quality liquid reserves, segregation/custody, monthly attestations, annual audits, capital/liquidity buffers and at-par redemption within five business days. Until full legislation comes into force, stablecoins remain treated as digital payment tokens under the PS Act DPT regime. In November 2025 MAS signalled it would bring in stablecoin legislation giving full effect to the framework.
- draft Part 2A s.40B / s.40E — MAS may designate any stablecoin circulating in Singapore as a systemic stablecoin by Gazette order and impose par-reserve/redemption duties; non-compliance can trigger exchange delisting directions (consultation) source, 2026-10-18
- para 6.3 (Consultation Paper P015-2026) — Banks and merchant banks wishing to issue a regulated stablecoin must do so through a separate non-bank legal entity (consultation) source, 2026-10-18
Not yet covered by Cryptoassets.gi for this jurisdiction: how a fiat-referenced token is classified (e-money, stablecoin, e-money token or asset-referenced token) and the tests that decide it; commencement and transition of the national stablecoin and cryptoasset regimes: key dates, application windows and amending instruments; e-money token issuance and offer: who may issue, white-paper and reserve requirements, third-country issuer treatment and transitional periods; cross-border market access for stablecoin and e-money activity between neighbouring regimes and its expiry; what an EMI or PI needs in addition to its licence to offer crypto conversion or stablecoin services, including payment-services treatment of token transfers.
A material caveat governs the current state: the framework was finalised in 2023 but, until full legislation comes into force, non-qualifying stablecoins remain treated as DPTs under the PS Act DPT regime. On 13 November 2025 MAS announced it would hold trials to issue tokenised MAS bills in 2026 and bring in laws to regulate stablecoins, giving full force to the SCS framework. Pending stablecoin legislation would convert the 2023 administrative framework into binding statute — a forward market-access and integrity development for issuers. The legislative enactment status as of this output date is ambiguous in the available evidence and is recorded as a forward watch item; the announcement of pending legislation rests on a single tier-3 anchor and is carried at Assessed confidence, whereas the 2023 finalisation rests on MAS primary material.
The instrument distinction for W2 is that the regulated stablecoin cohort sits within the nonbank PI/EMI space. The SCS framework establishes the reserve-and-redemption integrity bar that an issuer must meet; the issuer-approval events themselves (Paxos, StraitsX/XSGD) are carried as commercial product-access items in W13 with cross-reference here.
Outlook
The dominant W2 watch item is the enactment of Singapore stablecoin legislation giving full legal force to the SCS framework, expected during 2026 but with status currently unconfirmed. The parallel tokenised-MAS-bill trials announced for 2026 sit at the CBDC/tokenisation edge of this module. Until legislation is in force, the dual treatment — qualifying SCS under the administrative framework, non-qualifying stablecoins as DPTs — persists.
Stablecoins & Digital Money
MAS's Consultation Paper P015-2026, opened 1 September 2026, closed for public comment at 11.59pm on 16 October 2026. The consultation proposes amendments to the Payment Services Act 2019 that would convert MAS's 2023-finalised Single-Currency Stablecoin policy from non-statutory guidance into binding law. The centrepiece is a draft new Part 2A, section 40B, which would authorise MAS to designate any stablecoin circulating in Singapore as a designated systemic stablecoin by Gazette order, regardless of where that token is actually issued. A designation under this provision would carry par-reserve and redemption obligations, and non-compliance could lead MAS to direct licensed exchanges to delist the token. An issuer or participant aggrieved by a designation or delisting direction would have thirty days to appeal to the Minister, the one procedural check built into the drafted power.
A separate structural proposal within the consultation, at paragraph 6.3, would require banks and merchant banks wishing to issue a regulated stablecoin to do so through a separate non-bank legal entity rather than directly. This effectively bars Singapore banking entities from issuing SGD stablecoins themselves under their banking licence, pushing any bank-led stablecoin venture into a dedicated non-bank structure subject to the same stablecoin-specific regime as any other issuer.
Taken together, the systemic-designation power and the bank-separation requirement point toward a regime designed to treat regulated stablecoins as payment infrastructure requiring its own prudential and governance perimeter, distinct from both conventional banking and from unregulated digital-payment-token activity. None of these provisions are yet in force. The close of the consultation on 16 October 2026 is a procedural milestone; MAS has not announced a commencement date for the resulting legislation.
Outlook
MAS's own regulatory horizon estimates an impact window in the second quarter of 2027 for the amendments, carrying a half-year uncertainty band rather than a confirmed date. The extraterritorial reach of the systemic-designation power, extending to stablecoins issued entirely outside Singapore but circulating within it via licensed exchanges, is the single most consequential drafted feature and the one most likely to generate industry comment before the legislation is finalised.
2 earlier distinct update(s)
Stablecoins & Digital Money
The Monetary Authority of Singapore's Consultation Paper P015-2026 proposes to move the Single-Currency Stablecoin regime onto a statutory footing within the Payment Services Act 2019, replacing the non-statutory policy framework in place since 2023. Under the proposal, an issuer meeting the par-reserve and redemption test, or a stablecoin MAS designates systemic by Gazette order, must maintain reserve assets at least equal to par value of stablecoins in circulation at all times, and grant holders redemption at par within a MAS-prescribed timeframe. A ban on paying interest to stablecoin holders and new capital and solvency standards accompany the reserve and redemption requirements. The draft Part 2A systemic-stablecoin designation power is the most structurally significant element: MAS could designate a stablecoin systemic by Gazette order irrespective of where it or its issuer is regulated, reaching stablecoins issued entirely outside Singapore, and could direct licensed digital-payment-token providers to cease offering a non-compliant designated systemic stablecoin.
The consultation simultaneously proposes a liberalising element alongside the tightening reserve and designation provisions: MAS would recognise a limited number of well-regulated foreign stablecoins, and would permit the same fungible stablecoin to be issued from Singapore and one or more foreign jurisdictions. This reverses the Singapore-only-issuance position MAS set in 2023, moving from a closed domestic-issuance model toward a framework that accommodates cross-border, multi-jurisdiction stablecoin issuance provided the foreign regulatory regime meets MAS's standard. The consultation period ran from 1 September to 16 October 2026, and subsidiary legislation is expected to follow the close of consultation, though no commencement date has yet been set.
The practical effect for the two bank-PSP and non-bank-PI/EMI operating models differs primarily in reserve-custody arrangements: a non-bank payment institution issuing a regulated stablecoin would need to establish segregated trust-account arrangements with a permitted custodian to meet the par-reserve test, a requirement that does not arise in the same form for a bank-issued instrument already subject to prudential capital requirements. The systemic-designation power, however, applies without reference to this distinction, reaching any stablecoin MAS designates by Gazette order regardless of the issuer's institutional form.
Outlook
The consultation's close on 16 October 2026 is the immediate marker. Whether the systemic-designation power's offshore reach survives industry feedback in its current form, and what final capital and reserve quantum MAS prescribes in subsidiary legislation, are the two open questions that will determine the regime's eventual scope. No commencement date has been set, leaving issuers and digital-payment-token providers operating under the 2023 non-statutory policy in the interim.
Stablecoins & Digital Money
MAS opened a consultation on 1 September 2026, closing 16 October 2026, proposing to convert its voluntary 2023 MAS-SCS stablecoin policy into binding statute under the Payment Services Act. The proposal creates a dedicated stablecoin issuance licence, restricting the ability to describe a token as an MAS-regulated stablecoin to licensees, and introduces a 'systemic stablecoin' designation power that can reach any stablecoin MAS assesses as posing systemic risk to Singapore's payment or financial system based on size, interconnectedness or substitutability, regardless of where that stablecoin is issued or whether its issuer is MAS-regulated at all. A further structural condition has also been reported: a bank wishing to issue an MAS-regulated stablecoin may only do so through a separate non-bank entity, keeping stablecoin issuance legally distinct from the bank's deposit-taking balance sheet.
Outlook
The consultation closes 16 October 2026. The systemic-stablecoin designation power's independence from issuance location is the single most structurally significant element of the proposal, since it extends MAS's supervisory reach well beyond the ordinary licensing perimeter and would apply even to stablecoins with no Singapore nexus beyond their systemic footprint in the domestic payment system.
Sources and findings (5)
- T1https://www.mas.gov.sg/news/media-releases/2023/mas-finalises-stablecoin-regulatory-frameworkretrieved
- T3https://www.paxos.com/blog/regulatory-landscape-for-stablecoins [CAVEAT: Tier 3 secondary source — Assessed; verify vs primary pre-publication]
- T3https://www.ey.com/content/dam/ey-unified-site/ey-com/en-gl/industries/banking-capital-markets/documents/ey-gl-global-stablecoin-regulation-comparison-09-2025.pdf [CAVEAT: Tier 3 secondary source — Assessed; verify vs primary pre-publication]
- T1https://www.mas.gov.sg/news/media-releases/2023/mas-finalises-stablecoin-regulatory-frameworkretrieved
- T1MAS Stablecoin (SCS) regulatory framework, Aug 2023 (mas.gov.sg)