November 17, 2025
By Anjali Kochhar
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has announced a new pilot that will issue tokenized MAS bills and enable their settlement through a Singapore-dollar central bank digital currency (CBDC). The project was unveiled at the Singapore FinTech Festival, reinforcing the country’s position as one of the most forward-thinking financial hubs exploring blockchain technology.
MAS Managing Director Chia Der Jiun said asset tokenisation had clearly moved beyond early experimentation. “Are asset-backed tokens out of the lab? Without a doubt,” he noted. “But have they achieved escape velocity? Not yet.” The pilot aims to accelerate that transition showing how tokenized assets can interact seamlessly with existing financial institutions.
Under the initiative, MAS will integrate tokenized government bills with a wholesale CBDC, allowing for instant settlement, fewer intermediaries, and more efficient collateral usage. The regulator revealed that three major Singaporean banks DBS Bank, OCBC Bank, and UOB have already run inter-bank overnight lending transactions using the wholesale CBDC, demonstrating real readiness among major institutions.
Singapore has been preparing for this shift for several years. In 2023, MAS introduced a comprehensive stablecoin regulatory framework covering single-currency stablecoins pegged to the Singapore dollar or major global currencies. The rules require strong reserve backing and reliable redemption mechanisms a direct response to the instability seen in unregulated stablecoins, which MAS warns could trigger crises similar to the 2008 money-market collapse.
Alongside this, MAS launched the BLOOM initiative, a program designed to encourage the testing of tokenized bank liabilities and regulated stablecoins. These steps collectively build the foundation for a fully tokenized financial ecosystem.
The tokenized-bills pilot marks another major stride in Singapore’s digital-finance roadmap. While MAS has not yet disclosed the timeline or technical details, it confirmed that more information will be released in the coming year. What is clear now is that Singapore is doubling down on its ambition to integrate tokenized assets and CBDCs into mainstream financial operations setting the pace for the rest of the world.
About the author
Anjali Kochhar covers cryptocurrency and blockchain stories in India as well as globally. Having been in the field of media and journalism for over four years now, she has developed a sharp news sense and works hard to present information that goes beyond the obvious. She is an avid reader and loves writing on a wide range of subjects.
