Singapore Regulator Aims To Make The City-State A Global Crypto Center
One of the leading financial centers in South East Asia is actively pushing policies that would help the cryptocurrency sector grow.
When it comes to the regulation of cryptocurrencies there is no global standard. China has actively cracked down on significant amounts of crypto activity in recent months, while Japan only recently allowed specialized cryptocurrency investment funds. El Salvador, on the other hand, made Bitcoin as a legal currency in the country.
Singapore is planning to establish itself as the globe’s capital for crypto-related enterprises. According to Ravi Menon, the managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the city-state might have been left behind had it not gotten a head start on how to deal with cryptocurrencies.
Menon, who has headed the MAS for about 10 years, said:
“With crypto-based activities, it is basically an investment in a prospective future, the shape of which is not clear at this point.”
The South East Asian nation is at the forefront of this movement thanks to its openness toward cryptocurrencies, having developed a legislative framework that favors their use. The tax regime has also been modified in order to encourage the industry’s growth.
According to Menon, the MAS is putting “very strong regulation” in place to allow businesses that meet its requirements and address the numerous threats to operation.
The regulator said that Singapore must increase its security measures to address threats such as illicit flows. The city-state has become a magnet for cryptocurrency companies such as Binance Holding, which has had a series of disputes with regulators around the world, and Gemini, a United States-based operator targeting institutional investors.
Following the implementation of the Payment Services Act in January 2020, 170 firms applied for an MAS license, bringing the number of applicants to around 400.
Since then, only a handful of cryptocurrency businesses have gained the coveted licenses, with two being rebuffed. Around 30 applicants withdrew their applications after interacting with the regulator.
DBS Group, Singapore’s biggest bank and a pioneer in creating a platform for trading digital tokens and offering tokenization services, was one of the organizations that received the license. Other banks and technology companies in the city-state, such as OCBC and IBM, have also joined in.
