MAS consults on prudential treatment of cryptoassets on permissionless blockchains

28 April 2026

On 17 April 2026, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”) published its Consultation Paper on the Prudential Treatment of Cryptoassets on Permissionless Blockchains (“Consultation Paper”). The consultation closes
on 18 May 2026.

The Consultation Paper seeks feedback on a more risk-sensitive prudential treatment for cryptoassets issued on permissionless blockchains (“permissionless cryptoassets”) and follows feedback received on MAS’ Consultation Paper on the Prudential Treatment of Cryptoasset Exposures and Requirements for Additional Tier 1 and Tier 2 Capital Instruments for Banks, issued on 27 March 2025 (“March 2025 Consultation”), that the proposed prudential treatment of permissionless cryptoassets was not technology neutral and punitive, in light of advances in implementation practices. These include the deployment of technological safeguards through layer 2 solutions which may mitigate risks arising from the use of permissionless blockchains.

As set out in the Consultation Paper, MAS proposes to allow banks to classify and treat a permissionless cryptoasset as a Group 1 cryptoasset if the permissionless cryptoasset is able to meet a set of principle-based requirements designed to adequately mitigate the risks arising from the use of permissionless blockchains. The proposed Group 1 prudential treatment for permissionless cryptoassets is intended to be made available to banks from the time of publication of the Consultation Paper, until otherwise subsequently modified arising from the feedback, or the finalisation of the cryptoasset prudential framework and its effective implementation date in Singapore, whichever is the sooner (“interim period”). During this interim period, the application of this Group 1 prudential treatment will be subject to prescribed exposure and issuance caps.

MAS invites comments from banks and other interested parties.

Reference materials

The Consultation Paper is available on this webpage of the MAS website www.mas.gov.sg.