Singapore runs one of the most complete crypto frameworks in Asia through the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Digital payment token services, including exchange, transfer, and custody, have required a Payment Services Act license since 2020, with conduct rules that tightened steadily: retail customers cannot trade on leverage or with credit, incentives are banned, and customer assets must be held on trust with daily reconciliation. MAS finalized a stablecoin framework in August 2023 for single-currency stablecoins pegged to the Singapore dollar or G10 currencies, built on full reserve backing, five-day redemption at par, and issuer capital requirements, with the label 'MAS-regulated stablecoin' reserved for compliant issuers.
The decisive 2025 move closed the offshore loophole. From June 30, 2025, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 requires digital token service providers operating from Singapore but serving only overseas customers to be licensed, and MAS made clear it would grant such licenses only in extremely limited circumstances, forcing offshore-facing firms to relocate or shut. Singapore also became one of the first countries assessed under FATF's fifth-round evaluation of virtual asset supervision effectiveness.
The instruments
Payment Services Act 2019
Licenses digital payment token services: exchange, transfer, and custody. Amendments and MAS guidelines added consumer-access restrictions (no leverage or credit for retail, no incentives), trust-based safeguarding of customer assets, and travel-rule compliance.
Financial Services and Markets Act 2022: DTSP regime
Requires Singapore-based digital token service providers serving customers wholly outside Singapore to be licensed. MAS stated licences would be granted only in extremely limited circumstances, ending the practice of using Singapore as an unregulated offshore base.
MAS stablecoin regulatory framework
Single-currency stablecoins pegged to SGD or G10 currencies: full backing in low-risk reserve assets, redemption at par within five business days, issuer capital and disclosure requirements. Legislative amendments to hard-wire the framework into the PSA are in progress; only compliant issuers may use the regulated-stablecoin label.