Odaily Planet Daily News The British "Financial Times" previously published a letter criticizing the Singapore government's lack of public consultation and supervision on the adoption of cryptocurrency. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) responded to this on its official website:
First, MAS emphasized that the fintech regulatory sandbox launched in 2016 does not involve cryptocurrency payments.
Secondly, all individuals or companies, including cryptocurrency companies, can use the FAST Bank payment system as long as they have a bank account. Payments made through FAST use fiat currencies rather than cryptocurrencies. Payment transactions conducted through FAST between a customer and a cryptocurrency company do not mean that the customer's bank deposit is associated with the company.
Furthermore, the recent malware scam case in Singapore mentioned by the Financial Times had nothing to do with cryptocurrencies. The scams involved fraudsters taking control of customers' mobile devices and making unauthorized fiat currency transfers through the banking system.
MAS said it only issues licenses to cryptocurrency companies if they have robust anti-money laundering measures in place; most applicants are unsuccessful.
MAS is also consulting the public on a range of regulatory measures to mitigate the risks cryptocurrencies pose to retail investors. The measures will be phased in from the end of this year, and Singapore will have one of the strictest regulatory regimes in the world for retail use of cryptocurrencies.