Singapore is planning to restrict retail access to cryptocurrencies by planning to make it difficult for the public to buy cryptocurrencies. But the country is not talking straightaway imposing a ban on such trading activities.
Ravi Menon, who is the managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said at an event on Monday (August 29) that surveys show that consumers across the world are trading in cryptocurrencies.
He said it is increasing with each day despite the warnings and measures shared by the government authorities and experts.
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He said, “They seem to be irrationally oblivious about the risks of cryptocurrency trading. Adding frictions” on retail access to cryptocurrencies was an area the MAS was contemplating.”
“These may include customer suitability tests and restricting the use of leverage and credit facilities for cryptocurrency trading,” Menon said at a seminar titled “Yes to digital asset innovation, No to cryptocurrency speculation.”
Menon also said that MAS is mulling over customer suitability tests and also restricting the use of leverage and credit facilities for the trading of cryptocurrencies.
He added that the monetary authority regards cryptocurrencies as unsuitable for use as money and as “highly hazardous” for retail investors. But he further noted that since crypto trading is not bound by borders, putting bans on retail access to crypto might not work.
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Speculating on price movements via a trading account, or buying and selling the underlying coins via an exchange are the activities involved in Cryptocurrency trading.
He said, “With just a mobile phone, Singaporeans have access to any number of crypto exchanges in the world and can buy or sell any number of cryptocurrencies.”
In several instances, the Singaporean monetary authority has been criticised for unclear rules and positions. The trading experts have also said that there is a tedious licensing regime.
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