Is There a Gold Stablecoin in Singapore?

In regulatory terms, there is no gold stablecoin in Singapore: the stablecoin framework of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) only covers stablecoins pegged to a single fiat currency, such as the Singapore dollar or a G10 currency, so gold-pegged tokens cannot be called “MAS-regulated stablecoins”. Gold tokens are not banned, however. How they are regulated in Singapore depends on their structure: they may be treated as digital payment tokens (DPTs), or as capital markets products under the Securities and Futures Act.

What Is a Gold Stablecoin?

A gold stablecoin is a stablecoin that uses gold rather than fiat currency as its reference asset. It tracks the gold price, so its value in Singapore dollars or US dollars is not fixed. In essence, it is a form of real-world asset tokenization. The specific rights a holder has depend on the product design, which in turn directly determines how it is classified for regulatory purposes in Singapore.

How Does Singapore Regulate Gold Stablecoins?

The single-currency stablecoin framework MAS published in 2023 requires stablecoins to be pegged to the Singapore dollar or any G10 currency; tokens pegged to a basket of currencies or to commodities are excluded. Only stablecoins that meet the framework may use the “MAS-regulated stablecoin” label, and other tokens may not use the term, so none of the gold stablecoins on the market are MAS-regulated stablecoins.

Falling outside the stablecoin framework does not mean being unregulated. If a gold token is mainly used as a means of payment or exchange, it may be treated as a digital payment token under the Payment Services Act, and institutions providing buying, selling, transfer or custody services to customers in Singapore need a DPT license. If the token represents a share in a gold portfolio, MAS considered in a case study in its guide on tokenized capital markets products that such a token is likely to constitute units in a collective investment scheme, whose issuance and trading must comply with the Securities and Futures Act. To decide which category a given token falls into, MAS applies the principle of “same activity, same risk, same regulatory outcome” and assesses each case based on its rights structure.

Conclusion

Singapore currently has no gold stablecoin in the MAS-regulated sense; gold tokens are regulated as digital payment tokens or capital markets products according to their structure. When assessing a gold token, first establish what rights it represents and which regulatory category it falls into, then check whether the institution providing the service is licensed in Singapore.