Today the Monetary Authority of Singapore sketched out its roadmap for regulated digital money. While giving interim approval for Paxos and StraitsX units to issue stablecoins, the details reveal MAS seeks tight control via private settlement ledgers.
MAS’ Project Orchid paper covered stablecoins, tokenized bank deposits, and central bank digital currency. Notably, regulated stablecoins and tokenized deposits must settle on special “orchid compatible ledgers”, meaning private chains controlled by approved operators.
MAS ruled out public blockchains, stating permissionless networks “are unlikely to meet the requirements of qualification as an OCL (ledger)”.
So while Singapore’s coming stablecoins may still circulate on public chains, the final settlement will occur on private ledgers under regulatory oversight. This restricts their open programmability, as MAS essentially runs the only approved settlement venue.
The approved subsidiaries of Paxos and Xfers’ StraitsX likely preview what these controlled stablecoins will resemble – public-facing but privately settled.
Paxos highlighted bringing its “regulated platform to more users globally”. StraitsX distinguished its publicly circulating XSGD coin from a new US dollar stablecoin needing the private ledger.
By allowing interim stablecoin projects but ultimately mandating settlement on private chains, MAS telegraphed a tightly regulated future for digital money in Singapore, very different from today’s open model.
#MAS #Singapore #Stablecoins #CBDC
