Singapore — Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Tharman Shanmugaratnam said on Wednesday (Oct 27) that cryptocurrencies have a role in the country’s financial sector if they are regulated.
“There may be a role for crypto in future finance that extends beyond pure speculation and illicit finance,” said Mr Tharman at the Asia Financial Markets Forum.
He used stablecoins (a crypto subset often pegged to fiat currencies like the dollar) as an example which can have a role together with traditional payment systems as long as the digital assets are regulated for illicit finance activities such as anti-money laundering.
Mr Tharman announced that the central bank maintains an “open mind” on digital currencies because the regulator wants technologies and innovation to develop.
“I think the future will be one where regulated stablecoins will have a useful role. A traditional payment system that innovates and becomes more inter-operable across borders for cheap, fast and instant payments will be an important part of that space, plus possibly some role for other independent innovators in the system,” said Mr Tharman to Bloomberg.
Mr Tharman is a Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies. He has assumed key roles in organisations like the International Monetary Fund.
It was reported that Singaporeans have the sixth-highest rate of cryptocurrency ownership among 22 countries.
Fintech comparison website Finder.com shows that nearly 16 per cent of Singaporean adults own digital currency.
The survey consisted of 40,645 people across 22 countries, including 985 adults in Singapore.
“Singapore (15.6 per cent) has a similar adoption rate to Hong Kong (16 per cent) and Indonesia (17 per cent), and is just two percentage points behind Malaysia and Australia (18 per cent each),” said Finder cryptocurrency editor Keegan Francis to The Straits Times.
Earlier this month, MAS has issued a digital payment token service licence to local bank DBS’ brokerage arm DBS Vickers.
Singapore-based fintech firm Fomo Pay and Australian cryptocurrency exchange Independent Reserve are the two other entities with the same licence.
Mr Tharman’s statement comes as the country builds its status as a crypto-technology hub, laying the foundation for trading, listing, tokenisation and custody of the digital currency. /TISG
Read related: Cryptocurrency: Trading on an Exchange vs Online Brokerage
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