MAS chief doubts wholesale stablecoins

The head of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has said that stablecoins may not be the right tool for large wholesale settlement between financial institutions. Managing director Chia Der Jiun made the remarks on 9 October 2026 at the INSEAD Digital Finance and Agentic AI Summit in Singapore.

His comments are notable because Singapore is one of the most active jurisdictions in testing tokenised money, and its regulator is currently consulting on new rules for stablecoin issuers.

What the MAS chief said

Chia drew a clear line between commercial bank deposits and stablecoins. Bank deposits hold their value, he explained, because they can be exchanged at par for central bank reserves. For stablecoins this is not guaranteed, so confidence has to rest mainly on how transparent the issuer is and how adequate its reserve assets are.

He added that if stablecoins become systemically important, keeping their value stable becomes critical. He noted that there have been discussions about extra regulatory requirements for such issuers and even about giving them access to central bank reserves.

A three-tier view of settlement money

In Chia's framing, central bank money sits at the top of the settlement hierarchy. Deposit tokens, which are digital forms of ordinary bank deposits, come next and are suited to banking and cash management. Stablecoins sit below these and are seen as better suited to crypto exchanges and fintech payments than to large interbank transfers.

Singapore's stablecoin rules in progress

The remarks come during an MAS consultation on changes to the Payment Services Act, open from 1 September to 16 October 2026. The proposals would require licensed stablecoin issuers to hold reserves at least equal to the coins in circulation and to redeem them at par. Singapore has also been running trials under its BLOOM initiative, which explores tokenised bank liabilities and regulated stablecoins for settlement, alongside pilots that use a wholesale central bank digital currency.

Tokenised deposits versus stablecoins

The debate between tokenised deposits and stablecoins is one of the main questions in digital finance. Tokenised deposits are issued by regulated banks and sit inside existing deposit protection and supervision. Stablecoins are usually issued by non-bank firms and backed by reserves such as cash and short-term government debt. Both can move on blockchains, but they carry different legal protections and risks.

Why it matters for payments

Chia's view does not reject stablecoins. Instead it assigns them a role in retail and fintech payments, such as online purchases, cross-border transfers and in-store payments, while keeping the largest interbank flows on money backed directly or indirectly by the central bank. For payment providers, that points to a future where several forms of digital money work side by side, each with its own rules.

What to watch next

The consultation closes on 16 October, after which MAS is expected to publish its response and final rules. Observers will also watch whether other central banks adopt a similar hierarchy, and whether any jurisdiction moves to give stablecoin issuers access to central bank reserves, an idea that remains under discussion rather than policy.

What it means for ODIX Pay users

While regulators debate wholesale use, retail stablecoin payments keep growing. If you are asking what is a stablecoin, it is a digital token built to keep a steady value, usually one US dollar. In the ODIX Pay app you can buy crypto with a credit card or debit card, choosing the dollar stablecoins USDT or USDC. Availability depends on your country, and every fee is shown before you confirm. See how to buy USDT and USDC with your card.