Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister advised private investors to stay out of cryptocurrencies as they are “very risky.” He stressed, “We cannot express this enough.”
Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister warned about crypto
Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat reportedly warned private investors about investing in cryptocurrencies when speaking at the Asia Tech x Singapore (ATxSG) summit. He said.
Private investors, in particular, should not get involved in cryptocurrencies. This cannot be expressed enough.
He brought up the collapse of the cryptocurrency Terra (LUNA) and Algorithmic Stable Cointegrated (UST) to support his point. When these two cryptocurrencies collapsed, many investors lost a lot of money.
While cautioning that cryptocurrencies are “risky,” the deputy PM said digital dollars could transform finance.
Keet also stressed the importance of crypto regulation, stating.
We need to continue to adapt the rules so that regulation both encourages innovation and addresses the major risks posed by crypto assets.
Singapore has adopted strict rules on crypto, and the country’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), is the main regulator of the crypto sector. Many have applied for licenses from the MAS to operate crypto exchanges. However, about 100 companies have already failed to meet the regulator’s requirements.
In the past two years, the MAS has only granted licenses and basic approvals to 11 digital payment token service providers. The Deputy PM detailed that the MAS “will continue to evaluate applications and facilitate live experiments through the regulatory sandbox to enable secure adoption in the financial sector.”
The central bank said in April that the licensing process for digital asset service providers must be rigorous.” It is necessary because we want to be a responsible global crypto hub with strong risk management capabilities as well as innovative players,” MAS explained.
In January, cryptocurrency ATMs were closed in the country following the MAS announcement. The central bank also restricted crypto advertising earlier this year, stressing that crypto trading is not suitable for the general public.
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