Singapore central bank says three business days is ‘timely transfer’ for stablecoins

While blockchains continue to revolutionize payments by allowing instant transfers, Singapore’s central bank believes that three business days is a "timely transfer" for single-currency stablecoins (SCS), which is similar to transfer speed requirements for domestic money transfers. 

On Aug. 15, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) released its regulatory framework for stablecoins in the city-state. In the newly-published guidelines, the financial regulator highlighted that it would consider three business days as a timely transfer for SCS despite some feedback calling for a shorter time frame.

Screenshot of MAS’ response to the public consultation on stablecoins. Source: MAS

According to MAS, while SCS transfers may be expected to be completed more quickly because they are done on a blockchain, transfers of MAS-regulated stablecoins may “occur on various types of blockchain infrastructure that may have different service standards.” The central bank wrote that these types of blockchain infrastructures may not always be under the control of intermediaries. MAS wrote: 

“MAS will retain the proposed timeline of three business days. This would mirror the existing money transmission requirement for domestic money transfer services.”

Apart from stablecoin transfers, MAS also indicated that SCS redemptions need a longer time period. According to the document, redeeming stablecoins back to fiat will be given five business days. This response from MAS came despite some respondents arguing that redemptions must be done "within a shorter time frame, or even on a real-time basis."

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According to MAS, it will proceed with the requirement that issuers return the value of MAS-regulated SCS to holders within five business days. The regulator explained:

“The redemption timeline is intended to strike a balance between responsiveness to users’ requests and ensuring there is enough time for the SCS issuer to do so in an orderly manner under various stress situations.”

Cointelegraph reached out to MAS for comment but did not get an immediate response.

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