New Zealand’s FMA moves to spark local stablecoin scene with stablecoin rules draft
- New Zealand’s FMA has proposed rules that would let qualifying NZD payment stablecoins, backed by bank-held New Zealand dollars and redeemable at par, sit outside financial product law.
- The move matters to payment firms and issuers, but it lands around a thin market.
- The country’s only designated coin, NZDD, saw demand fall and its issuer put up for sale, while Australia and the rest of APAC already have licensing regimes running.
New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority (FMA) is advancing regulation for payment stablecoins tethered to the New Zealand dollar after the regulator opened a consultation on November 9.
The consultation period opens amid a struggling domestic stablecoin sector in a country where the issuer of the flagship NZD coin, NZDD, has been put up for sale after the token struggled to gain popularity.
How New Zealand classifies stablecoins
According to New Zealand’s FMA consultation on a class designation for stablecoins tied to the New Zealand dollar (NZD), which opened on November 9, payment coins will not be classified as financial products under the Financial Markets Conduct Act.
The consultation is intended to draw comments as the regulator attempts to clarify the distinction between payment coins and investment tokens based on a set of conditions that include bank-held New Zealand dollars backing and face value redemption.
The FMA is running a temperature check to see whether stablecoin products can get a clearer path to market in the interim without undermining confidence in New Zealand’s financial system, according to FMA General Counsel Liam Mason.
New Zealand still does not have a dedicated crypto or stablecoin licensing law to sit underneath the designation the FMA is currently working on. Instead, the regulator is carving out an exemption from the country’s securities law.
The agency said longer-term rules for digital assets are still being written.
New Zealand dollar stablecoin issuer is for sale
Earlier this year, the FMA ruled that the NZDD stablecoin, issued by Easy Crypto subsidiary ECDD Holdings Limited, is not a financial product. NZDD is the only NZD stablecoin to have earned that designation from the regulator. The agency explained that decision by saying the token met its specified conditions:
- It is not designed to produce returns to holders
- The token is backed one-to-one by NZD held in trust at a local bank
Despite the regulatory green light, NZDD adoption never tracked domestic adoption expectations. In fact, total supply has reportedly shrunk nearly 50% since August.
Easy Crypto’s Australian parent, Swyftx, shut the New Zealand exchange on March 31, and it is still looking for a buyer for the stablecoin business it put up for sale since.
FMA Chief Executive Samantha Barass conceded that New Zealand’s regulatory approach has led to participants voicing out “frustration” over “uncertainty, cost, and the steep transition to full licensing.”
ECDD’s NZDD was the lone participant of the 24 firms that applied to the FMA’s December 2024 fintech pilot to actually reach market. It was one of the six admitted to the sandbox.
Australia is ahead in stablecoin regulation
Australia’s securities regulator ASIC has more chapters in its book on stablecoin regulation. The regulator treats non-yield-bearing stablecoin as a non-cash payment facility, which generally requires issuers to obtain an Australian financial services license.
Canberra has also passed digital asset reforms and proposed the tokenized stored value facility as a dedicated category to govern payment stablecoins directly.
Zoom out, and New Zealand still comes in behind several neighbors in the region. Hong Kong granted its first two stablecoin issuer licenses on April 10, 2026, and Singapore published draft legislation on September 1 to write its framework into the Payment Services Act.
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FAQs
What is the FMA proposing for NZD stablecoins?
A class designation that would remove qualifying New Zealand dollar payment stablecoins from the definition of a financial product under the Financial Markets Conduct Act, provided they are backed by NZD held at a registered bank and redeemable at face value.
Which New Zealand dollar stablecoin does the rule relate to?
NZDD, issued by ECDD Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of Easy Crypto. The FMA ruled earlier this year that NZDD is not a financial product, but the issuer's New Zealand exchange was shut on March 31 and the stablecoin business was put up for sale.
How does Australia regulate AUD stablecoins by comparison?
ASIC's position is that a non-yield-bearing stablecoin is likely a non-cash payment facility requiring an Australian financial services licence, and proposed reforms would create a tokenised stored value facility category for payment stablecoins.
Disclaimer. The information provided is not trading advice. Cryptopolitan.com holds no liability for any investments made based on the information provided on this page. We strongly recommend independent research and/or consultation with a qualified professional before making any investment decisions.
Hannah Collymore
Hannah is a writer and editor with nearly a decade of blog writing and event reporting experience in the crypto space. At Cryptopolitan, Hannah contributes to the news page, reporting and analyzing the latest developments in DeFi, RWA, crypto regulation, AI and frontier tech industries. She graduated from Arcadia university with a degree in Business Administration.
