Singapore regulatory sandbox lacks qualified crypto payment providers

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has mentioned that no companies have qualified to take part in its FinTech Regulatory Sandbox framework as cryptocurrency payment providers. 

Responding to a letter criticizing the Singaporean authorities’s lack of public session and oversight on crypto adoption printed within the Financial Times, the MAS clarified that the nation doesn’t have a “crypto sandbox” however quite a sandbox that helps a broad vary of fintech experimentation.

The letter criticized Singapore for “unwisely” permitting crypto corporations entry to Singapore’s Fast and Secure Transfers (FAST) interbank payment system. The digital funds switch system permits prospects of taking part entities to switch Singapore greenback funds from one entity to a different in Singapore.

However, the MAS clarified that every one companies with a legitimate checking account can entry the FAST system, together with crypto companies, stating, “Payments through FAST are in fiat currencies, not cryptocurrencies.”

The regulator then said that the rising malware rip-off instances in Singapore had nothing to do with cryptocurrencies, claiming that, quite the opposite, such scams are extra prevalent within the fiat financial system:

“These scams entail fraudsters taking control of customers’ mobile devices and effecting unauthorized transfers through the banking system in fiat currencies.”

In its combat towards cash laundering, Singapore supplies operational licenses to crypto companies that may showcase robust Anti-Money Laundering (AML) controls.

“As these measures are progressively implemented from the end of this year onwards, Singapore will have one of the strictest regulatory regimes in the world governing retail access to cryptocurrencies.”

In this regard, the MAS not too long ago consulted the general public on a collection of regulatory measures to mitigate the dangers posed by cryptocurrencies to retail prospects.

Related: Coinbase signals EU, Canada, Brazil, Singapore and Australia as priorities

Former MAS Chair Tharman Shanmugaratnam — who has traditionally thought of crypto as dangerous investments — won Singapore’s presidential race.

The president-elect reportedly as soon as known as crypto property “highly volatile” and “highly risky as investment products” in 2021 warnings to Singapore-based customers in his function as MAS chair.

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