The head of the Monetary Policy Authority of Singapore spoke at the Green Shoots conference.
On the website of the Monetary Policy Authority of Singapore (MAS) appeared at . a transcript of a speech given by the agency’s head, Ravi Menon, at the Green Shoots conference on Aug. 29.
Menon said that Singapore is keen to attract leading cryptocurrency participants, but on the other hand the regulator is “stepping up efforts to implement those regulations that limit access to cryptocurrencies by individuals.” The head of MAS stressed that he does not see this approach as ambivalent.
The fact is that MAS distinguishes separately digital assets (“crypto-assets”), which are digital images of property rights on a blockchain and accordingly treats tokens positively, supporting the tokenization of financial and real economic assets.
However, the phenomenon of “cryptocurrencies” is treated separately in the MAS: these are assets that also arise on a distributed ledger, but “their prices have nothing to do with any of their economic value relevant to their use on the blockchain,” Menon said. Seeing such prices as speculative, MAS seeks to limit retail investors’ access to cryptocurrency transactions.
As an example of the tokenization that MAS endorses, Menon cited the S$600 million digital bond issue by UOB Bank.
Speaking on how token transactions should best be mediated, Menon rejected the thesis that cryptocurrencies could claim that role. He noted that MAS favors private stackable tokens that are strictly regulated and have the necessary amount of reserves, as well as public digital currencies issued by countries’ central banks (CBDC), only if they are focused on financial transactions between legal entities. In particular, the MAS sees no reason for Singapore to create its own CBDC for individuals.