The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has clarified that no cryptocurrency payment providers have qualified to participate in its fintech Regulatory Sandbox, which aims to support a broad range of fintech experimentation. Responding to a letter in the Financial Times criticizing the Singaporean government's lack of public consultation and oversight on crypto adoption, the MAS noted that the country does not have a "crypto sandbox." To qualify for operational licenses, cryptocurrency businesses must demonstrate robust anti-money laundering controls, per Singapore's efforts to combat money laundering.
The regulatory authority also clarified that all businesses in Singapore with a valid bank account can access the FAST interbank payment system, including cryptocurrency businesses. Payments through FAST, however, are in fiat currencies, not cryptocurrencies. The MAS suggested that rising malware scam cases in Singapore had nothing to do with cryptocurrencies, a method of fraud that they claim is more prevalent in the fiat economy.
Singapore is taking active measures to combat money laundering, including the provision of operational licenses to qualified cryptocurrency businesses with strong anti-money laundering controls. The MAS is set to implement progressive regulatory measures this year to govern retail access to cryptocurrencies, creating one of the strictest regulatory regimes in the world. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the recently elected president of Singapore who has warned of the risks of cryptocurrencies, once famously deemed crypto assets "highly volatile" and "highly risky as investment products."
