MAS Proposes Recognizing Foreign Stablecoins for Cross-Border Use

Points of Focus

• The MAS opened a consultation to turn its 2023 stablecoin framework into law.
• A new proposal would recognize foreign stablecoins for cross-border use.
• The move echoes a similar comparable-regime path in US GENIUS Act rules.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) opened a consultation on legislative amendments to the Payment Services Act, moving a stablecoin framework it finalized back in August 2023 toward actual binding law.

Singapore Proposes Stablecoin License With 100% Reserves, No Holder Interest

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s central bank and financial regulator, has proposed amendments to the Payment Services Act creating a dedicated stablecoin issuance license, with… pic.twitter.com/QDWHpvWqXk

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) September 1, 2026

The MAS had flagged this step directly in a parliamentary reply, stating it was “working on legislative amendments to formalize the framework” ahead of a public consultation.

MAS moves its 2023 stablecoin framework toward law

This isn’t new policy. The MAS first consulted on its proposed stablecoin approach in October 2022 and published its finalized regulatory response in August 2023, establishing rules for single-currency stablecoins pegged to the Singapore dollar or other G10 currencies.

Non-bank issuers with more than S$5 million in circulation need a major payment institution license under a dedicated “Stablecoin Issuance Service” category, and systemic stablecoin arrangements get designated as payment systems under existing Singaporean law.

Today’s consultation exists specifically to translate those already-settled positions into statutory language, a multi-year process reaching its final legislative stage rather than a fresh policy shift.

MAS proposes recognizing foreign stablecoins for cross-border use

The genuinely new element sits in one specific proposal: recognizing selected foreign-issued stablecoins regulated under comparable overseas frameworks, intended to support cross-border wholesale use cases while preserving Singapore’s own regulatory safeguards.

MAS Deputy Managing Director for Financial Supervision Ho Hern Shin said trusted, well-regulated stablecoins can serve as a credible settlement asset in tokenized financial markets, calling the framework important as asset tokenization gains traction.

Singapore’s move mirrors a global stablecoin recognition trend

That foreign-recognition mechanism puts Singapore alongside a pattern showing up elsewhere in stablecoin regulation this year.

The US GENIUS Act’s own Section 3 rulemaking establishes a comparable-regulatory-regime pathway letting foreign stablecoin issuers operate domestically once a jurisdiction’s oversight is judged equivalent, a framework still working through implementation.

Multiple major financial centers are independently arriving at a similar structural answer: Stablecoin regulation increasingly needs a bridge connecting separate national regimes, not just rules confined within one.

Why Singapore isn’t competing with dollar stablecoins

Roughly 99% of stablecoins in circulation today are denominated in US dollars, according to industry tracking cited across multiple regulatory analyses. Singapore’s framework, built around the Singapore dollar and G10 currencies, was never positioned to compete with dollar stablecoins by volume.

The foreign-recognition proposal reframes the actual objective: Rather than building a rival, the MAS appears to be constructing the on-ramp that would let recognized foreign stablecoins, plausibly including dollar-denominated ones, operate inside Singapore’s regulatory perimeter without requiring separate local licensing for every issuer.

What happens next for the MAS’ stablecoin consultation

The MAS has invited feedback on the consultation paper through Oct. 16, 2026, with responses expected to shape the legislative amendments before they’re finalized.

The current paper leaves the foreign-recognition criteria undefined; whether that ends up narrow, limited to a small number of jurisdictions the MAS judges genuinely comparable, or broad enough to cover most G10-regulated stablecoin regimes is a decision the amendments themselves still have to make.