Singapore / MAS

Singapore is permissive toward digital asset activity and heavily licensed in how it permits it. Digital payment token services fall under the Payment Services Act 2019, and since 30 June 2025 a separate Digital Token Service Provider regime under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 has captured Singapore-incorporated firms serving customers wholly outside Singapore. That regime commenced without a transition window, and MAS indicated it would rarely license firms whose substantive activity sits entirely abroad, because it cannot supervise them. The stablecoin position is easy to overstate: MAS finalised the policy features of its single-currency stablecoin framework in August 2023, covering tokens pegged to the Singapore dollar or a G10 currency, but the implementing legislation has not yet been introduced in Parliament, so the "MAS-regulated stablecoin" label has no statutory basis yet. Tokenisation pilots run in parallel, including tokenised MAS bills settled in wholesale central bank digital currency.

Key regulations

  • Payment Services Act 2019
  • Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 (DTSP regime)
  • MAS Single-Currency Stablecoin framework (2023)

Entities

  • DPT service providers
  • DTSPs
  • stablecoin issuers
  • custodians
  • exchanges

Activities

  • trading
  • custody
  • stablecoins
  • cross-border transfers
  • tokenisation

Developer orientation. Not legal advice.

What to Watch

  • The stablecoin bill and an expected public consultation, which determine when the single-currency framework acquires legal force.
  • Treatment of tokens that fall outside the single-currency scope, including foreign-issued and multi-currency stablecoins, which stay under the general digital payment token rules.
  • Travel rule application to transfers involving unhosted wallets.
  • Whether wholesale central bank digital currency settlement pilots produce durable market infrastructure.

See also