MAS Proposes 100% Reserve Mandate for Stablecoins (USDT, USDC) Under Amended Act

100% Reserves and Par Redemption on the Table

Singapore's central bank moved on Monday to hard-code its stablecoin regime into statute. On September 1, 2026, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) published proposed amendments to the Payment Services Act 2019 that would set binding rules on issuer licensing, value stability, capital and user protection — and opened a public consultation that stays open until October 16, 2026. In the consultation paper published on the regulator's own site, MAS sets out a new "MAS-SCS" framework under which only issuers approved within that regime may call themselves "MAS-regulated stablecoin issuers" and describe their tokens as "MAS-regulated stablecoins." The stated purpose is consumer clarity: separating genuinely supervised products from the many unregulated crypto assets that also borrow the stablecoin label. Anything outside the framework would be treated as a digital payment token (DPT). On the substance, the paper specifies requirements around value stability, capital, redemption at par value and disclosure, with one load-bearing number: reserves must at all times be worth at least 100% of the circulating supply at face value. The regime would apply to single-currency stablecoins pegged to the Singapore dollar or a G10 currency — a scope that, by definition, covers major USD-pegged tokens such as USDC and USDT.

Foreign Issuers Gain a Recognition Path

The most consequential shift is directed at issuers operating across borders. The framework finalized in August 2023 covered only single-currency stablecoins issued domestically and explicitly did not permit multi-jurisdiction issuance. The new proposal reverses that posture: where a token is jointly issued by a Singapore entity and a foreign issuer, it could still carry the "MAS-regulated stablecoin" designation if risks are adequately mitigated. To get there, MAS proposes individually waivable exemptions from two existing requirements — that the issuer be a locally incorporated entity, and that it itself hold reserves at least matching circulation — conditional on the foreign jurisdiction's rules being substantively equivalent and on secured information-sharing between authorities. A parallel "MAS-recognized stablecoin" track would admit tokens issued under comparable foreign regimes, though the authority signals it intends to keep both approvals and recognitions to a small set. Additional measures in the same package include a ban on issuers paying interest or returns to holders, mandatory stress testing, and a designation power for systemically important stablecoins. In the accompanying statement, MAS Deputy Managing Director for financial supervision Ho Hern Shin argued the framework offers clear regulatory guidance for tokens meeting high standards of stability and governance, and that trusted, well-regulated stablecoins will matter more as asset tokenization spreads — functioning as credible settlement assets in tokenized markets where cross-chain bridges and other omnichain infrastructure already move value across jurisdictions. Japan's Financial Services Agency took a comparable step in June, when a revised cabinet order brought foreign-issued trust-type stablecoins under its electronic payment instrument classification. Readers tracking the market in real time can follow live spot and futures prices on Binance.

A Proposal, Not a Final Rule

Our reading of the consultation text: nothing here binds anyone yet. This is a proposal — the amendments take legal effect only after the October 16 feedback window closes and MAS finalizes the bill — and it applies to entities seeking licensing under the Payment Services Act 2019, not to the broader market retroactively. The interest prohibition is the sharpest signal: it effectively excludes yield-bearing stablecoin models from Singapore's regulated perimeter, positioning MAS-regulated tokens as pure payment rails rather than savings products. For Bitcoin DeFi and tokenized-finance builders watching jurisdictional arbitrage, Singapore's openness to foreign recognition — capped at a deliberately small roster — is the detail worth tracking.