The Monetary Authority of Singapore is eyeing a new trial to issue tokenized MAS bills to primary dealers and settle them with CBDC.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is considering a new trial for the issuance of tokenized MAS bills for Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in 2026. The regulator is also looking to introduce a regulatory framework for stablecoins within Singapore. This is all in alignment with its vision of operating a tokenized financial ecosystem.
Tokenization and Stablecoin Regulation Move in Singapore
Not much is known about this initiative, but the agency intends to release more details next year. During his keynote address at the Singapore FinTech Festival, Mr Chia Der Jiun, Managing Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore, acknowledged the maturation of tokenization.
He explained that this niche had gone beyond the experimental stage and is now being integrated into commercial settings.
“Are asset-backed tokens clearly out of the lab? Without a doubt,” he said, “But have asset-backed tokens achieved escape velocity? Not yet,” Der Jiun added.
To a large extent, it is believed that tokenization holds lots of promises like round-the-clock settlement, reduced intermediaries, and more efficient collateral usage. However, the industry still needs to overcome structural hurdles before large-scale adoption is possible, per the opinion of the MAS director.
In the case of the stablecoin regulation in view, he confirmed that the MAS has been working on the details for some time.
Der Jiun noted that three Singapore banks, DBS, OCBC, and UOB, have successfully conducted interbank overnight lending transactions using the first live trial issuance of Singapore dollar wholesale CBDC.
Tokenization Moves Across Several Regions
It is clear that the financial market has entered the tokenization era, where different Real World Assets (RWAs) are being digitized.
During an Oct. 14 interview on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink stated that the financial industry is at “the beginning of the tokenization of all assets.”
At the beginning of November, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced a five-year strategy featuring tokenization as a core pillar for advancing the city’s financial sector. Dubbed Fintech 2030, this initiative is focused on building a vibrant digital asset ecosystem in Hong Kong through accelerated real-world asset tokenization, including financial assets.
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