Singapore Changes Stance on Crypto Market

In 2021, Singapore was all set to enter theglobal crypto hub, but after the liquidity crises in thecrypto market, the country’s regulators are facing challenges in their stance.

Sopnendu Mohanty (Chief Fintech Officer- Monetary Authority of Singapore), told the Financial Times that they could not tolerate any bad behavior towards the market. They were fierce and unrelentingly hard on anyone who had done something wrong.

He further said that many cryptocurrencies had called out them for not being‘friendly’. He aggressively questioned whether they should become friends for a real economy or an unreal economy.

The comment of the Chief Fintech Officer holds a slightly different view from MAS director Ravi Menon. Mohanty dismissed the crypto economy as ‘unreal’ that, according to Menon, was considered the value addition and job creation for many.

In November 2021, during the interview with Bloomberg, Menon said that if the crypto economy took off, they wanted to be leading players.

He added that the crypto armlet would help create value and jobs more than the financial sector. According to him, it would eventually help in gaining the economic sector.

In recent years, cryptocurrency exchangessuch asGeminiandBinancehave turned to the country for their crypto-friendly stance. The low taxes and regulations of the perceived crypto were key persuaders for the businesses.

MAS has issued strict guidelines for digital assets over the last few months. For example, MAS banned all the advertisements and ATMS related to cryptocurrency in public spaces. After that, many cryptocurrency exchanges have turned their way.

Sopnendu Mohanty said that private currency was responsible for market turmoil.

Chief Fintech Officer has no digital assets, but he is open to Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). He affirmed that Singapore would launch its own CBDC in 3 years.