- While the crypto sector has provided plenty of high-paying jobs, there are also concerns that the more speculative corners of an already volatile market could create undesirable outcomes for Singapore retail investors.
- The Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) managing director Ravi Menon said that the agency would take stronger measures to restrict retail access to cryptocurrencies and consider “further measures to reduce consumer harm”.
Entering the one of Singapore’s two casinos is simple enough if you have a foreign passport, but if you’re Singaporean, be prepared to shell out some US$107 for the privilege of entry.
Singapore’s casino policy of course is to protect the most feckless from becoming addicted to gambling and having to deal with the fallout from citizens who lose their life savings to games of chance.
Cryptocurrencies on the other hand are a different matter.
Long viewed as the most likely crypto hub in Asia after China’s crackdown on cryptocurrencies effectively ended Hong Kong’s prospects for taking on such a role, a recent spate of high profile crypto company crashes has forced Singapore to become more circumspect in its approach to the nascent asset class.
According to a report by KPMG, investment in Singapore’s crypto and blockchain companies surged to a record US$1.48 billion in 2021, 10 times the previous year’s total and nearly half the Asia-Pacific total for 2021.
But while the crypto sector has provided plenty of high-paying jobs, there are also concerns that the more speculative corners of an already volatile market could create undesirable outcomes for Singapore retail investors.
Singapore’s financial regulator has distanced itself from “heavily speculated” cryptocurrencies and on Monday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) managing director Ravi Menon said that the agency would take stronger measures to restrict retail access to cryptocurrencies and consider “further measures to reduce consumer harm”.
Menon’s comments come after a string of collapses of various Singapore-based crypto companies, such as the implosion of Terraform Labs’ terraUSD algorithmic stablecoin and Three Arrows Capital, one of the best-known crypto hedge funds.
Earlier this year, the MAS restricted the marketing and advertising of cryptocurrency services in and since then, crypto providers have removed cryptocurrency ATMs and advertisments from areas frequented by retail investors, including public areas and public transport venues.
However, Menon added that MAS still believed in the “transformative” economic potential of the broader digital asset ecosystem including tokenised digital versions of existing assets.
While Singapore will likely remain committed to an incremental integration of digital assets into its financial markets, it will likely remain cautious about the involvement of retail investors in the crypto space.
