Caixin: Singapore Plans to Optimize Capital Requirements for Banks’ Crypto Assets, Public-Chain Assets to Receive More Favorable Treatment

According to Caixin, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) released a consultation paper on April 17, 2026, proposing more accommodating regulatory capital guidelines for crypto assets on permissionless blockchains (i.e., public blockchains) ahead of implementing the Basel Committee’s new capital requirements for crypto assets. The current Basel framework is viewed as overly stringent in its classification of public blockchain-based assets, potentially stifling banking-sector innovation. MAS plans to abandon a “one-size-fits-all” classification approach and instead allow public blockchain-based crypto assets that meet a set of principle-based criteria to be classified as Group 1 crypto assets—carrying lower risk weights and less stringent prudential requirements—to achieve regulatory technology neutrality.