Under the Financial Services ITM 2025, MAS projects 4-5% annual sector growth and 3,000-4,000 net jobs, underpinned by a four-pronged digital asset strategy.

ITM 2025 Overview and Growth Targets

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched the Financial Services Industry Transformation Map (ITM) 2025 with projections that the financial sector will grow by 4.0% to 5.0% per annum between 2021 and 2025, and create 3,000 to 4,000 net jobs on average each year. The ITM 2025 comprises five key strategies: enhance asset class strengths, digitalise financial infrastructure, catalyse Asia’s net-zero transition, shape the future of financial networks, and foster a skilled and adaptable workforce. The plan builds on the initial ITM launched in 2017, which focused on innovation, technology adoption, and workforce development.

Value (Various)Source: Orionmano Industries

Digital Asset Ecosystem: The ‘Shape the Future of Financial Networks’ Pillar

Under the strategy to "shape the future of financial networks," MAS explicitly prioritises building an innovative and responsible digital asset ecosystem. The regulator has adopted a four-pronged approach to developing this ecosystem in Singapore.

First, MAS is supporting the development of innovative use cases for digital assets. This includes exploring the potential of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in promising applications such as cross-border payments, trade finance, and capital markets. Project Guardian serves as a flagship initiative in this area, enabling experimentation with tokenisation of financial and real economy assets.

Second, MAS is encouraging the tokenisation of assets, both financial and real economy, through projects that demonstrate the viability of blockchain-based asset representation and trading. Third, the authority is enabling digital currency connectivity through initiatives such as Project Orchid, which explores the technical and policy infrastructure for digital currencies.

Fourth, MAS is anchoring key players with strong value propositions and risk management capabilities. This prong ensures that participants in Singapore's digital asset ecosystem maintain high standards of governance and operational integrity, addressing concerns about the risks associated with DLT while pursuing its potential benefits.

Concrete infrastructure projects under this pillar include expanding cross-border payment linkages with regional economies through real-time payment connections and Project Nexus, which aims to enable instant cross-border settlements. MAS is also developing an industry funds settlement utility to centralise subscription, redemption, and record-keeping workflows, resulting in reduced settlement time and improved efficiency. Separately, improvements to bond market infrastructure aim to enhance end-to-end efficiency in primary bond issuances, listing, and settlement processes, strengthening Singapore's proposition as a bond issuance and listing venue of choice.

Workforce Development and Skills Investment for Digital Assets

MAS has allocated SGD 400 million in grant funding for skills development and training programmes under the ITM 2025. This funding targets capability building across multiple areas, including digital assets, sustainable finance, private credit, and philanthropy.

The skills required for Singapore's digital asset ecosystem include expertise in digital assets, blockchain programming, and cryptography. MAS and the Institute of Banking & Finance (IBF) are working closely with the financial industry and tripartite partners to foster a strong workforce. Micro-credentials and stackable certificates are being developed targeting in-demand digital asset skills, with institutes of higher learning potentially partnering with private-sector firms to co-engineer modules aligned with industry demands.

The workforce strategy recognises that Singapore's greatest economic asset is its highly-skilled labour force, and any structural shift toward digital assets must ensure the workforce remains agile, relevant, and future-ready. Analysts note that talent and innovation, rather than sheer market size or capital, will be the primary lever for Singapore to secure a durable position in the digital asset ecosystem.

Cross-Border Settlement Innovations and New Business Models

The ITM 2025 explicitly encourages the development of new business models for cross-border settlements through technology adoption and payment linkages. MAS aims to expand cross-border payment linkages with regional economies, citing real-time payment connections and Project Nexus as mechanisms for instant cross-border settlements. These linkages build on existing domestic payment infrastructure such as PayNow, FAST, and SGQR.

Exploration of DLT promises new models for trade finance and capital market settlements. Projects such as Project Guardian and the earlier Project Ubin have demonstrated how blockchain technology can reduce settlement times, improve transparency, and lower costs in cross-border transactions. These initiatives align with MAS's broader goal of digitalising financial infrastructure to encourage new business models and enhance operational efficiencies.

The funds settlement utility being developed to centralise subscription, redemption, and record-keeping for investment funds represents a structural innovation in settlement infrastructure. By facilitating reconciliation of fund data flows, this utility aims to reduce settlement time and improve efficiency across the asset management value chain. Combined with improvements to bond market infrastructure—enhancing end-to-end efficiency in primary issuances, listing, and settlement—these initiatives create conditions for new business models to emerge in cross-border capital flows.

If MAS executes its digital asset ecosystem plan successfully, Singapore could emerge as a leading global hub for cross-border digital asset settlements. However, regulatory clarity and international cooperation will be critical to realising the projected growth and job creation. The evolving global regulatory landscape—including recent executive actions in the United States that promote dollar-backed stablecoins while prohibiting central bank digital currencies—introduces both opportunities and uncertainties for Singapore's positioning. MAS continues to advocate for responsible innovation, urging businesses to take a cautious and measured approach when implementing DLT solutions while maintaining the sandbox framework that relaxes regulatory requirements to enable live experiments of innovation.