Sunday, April 1, 2018

Singapore (MAS) Managing Director - Crypto Tokens - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Singapore is well known for innovation in things related to Fintech. We have mentioned here that we would keep an eye on central bank in Singapore (MAS) for possible implementation of central bank digital currency. Based on this recent speech by MAS Managing Director Ravi Menon, it appears that the MAS is continuing with serious testing along those lines. 


A thank you to a reader for sending me the link to this recent speech. Some excerpts are below.

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"Crypto Tokens: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly"

"Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. And to all our foreign guests, welcome to Singapore. 

This is a conference named after Money. Money has been with us for at least 5000 years. And over the last 300 years or so, we have come to accept Money as being issued by central banks whose mission in life is to safeguard its value. 

Now, along comes a new phenomenon – crypto money or currency or asset. The past year has seen explosive growth in the trading and use of these crypto assets. We have also seen a roller-coaster ride in their prices."

. . . .

"MAS has been watching the crypto space with great interest. Our views are still evolving but let me share with you the current state of our thinking and our evolving regulatory approach."       . . . . .



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My added commments: There is a bit of new information related to the work the MAS is doing in testing the potential for a central bank digital currency. Midway through the speech we find this bullet point:

--  Following two successful proofs-of-concept domestically, MAS has entered a collaboration with the Bank of Canada to test and develop a cross-border solution using crypto tokens issued by the two central banks.



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