What Would Happen if Singapore Regulates Bitcoin?

At a conference, Ravi Menon, the managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s central bank, stated that the country does not intend to regulate bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market in the short-term.

In essence, Menon shared the same sentiment as European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi, who as CCN reported, explained that the ECB is not planning regulatory frameworks for the cryptocurrency market as of yet. Draghi emphasized that the ECB believes the bitcoin market needs to mature for the institution to consider regulating it.

Menon stated:

“We’ve taken the approach that the currency itself does not pose the risk that warrants regulation. It is a known fact that cryptocurrencies are quite often abused for illicit financing purposes, so we do want to have AML/CFT controls in place. So those requirements apply to the activity around cryptocurrency, rather than the cryptocurrency itself.”

What Happens if Singapore Regulates Bitcoin in Long-Term?

Advertisement:
Although Menon clarified that there will be no strict regulations for the Singaporean cryptocurrency market as of yet, he reaffirmed that the MAS will continue to be “open minded” with cryptocurrencies and bitcoin. More importantly, Menon noted that in the future, if the MAS and the Singaporean government sees the necessity of regulating the bitcoin market, it will provide regulatory frameworks for businesses and investors.

As Menon explained:

“Our approach is to look at the activity around the cryptocurrency and then make an assessment of what regulation would be suitable.”

If Singapore regulates its cryptocurrency and bitcoin exchange markets, there exists a highly probability that along with Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea, Singapore will evolve into a major bitcoin market. Consequently, Asia will likely emerge as the cryptocurrency powerhouse region, considering that Japan is accountable for at least 68 percent of bitcoin trades and that the South Korean Ethereum market remains as the largest Ether exchange market in the world.