In a move that sent waves all over the financial landscape of the nation, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (also known as MAS) banned the legitimacy of crypto ATMs, essentially pushing them out of business. This meant that they had to close down since they were not legally recognized as a means of converting crypto to fiat currency. This is yet another move to reduce the influence of cryptocurrency in Singapore’s financial services from a country that was once a supporter of decentralized finance. An operator company of multiple cryptocurrency ATMs in the city talked about how it was shocked at the decision and they as well as other crypto ATM companies shut down in compliance with the MAS ruling.
Prior to this news, the financial regulator of the country informed crypto institutions to avoid adverts relating to cryptography due to the unpredictable nature of the coins in the blockchain system. That was a sign that the Government was against the encouraging of Singaporeans to delve into a market that was ergodic in nature. He said that these ATM service providers needed to use ads for cryptocurrency on their own websites and other private means. That regulation had far-reaching effects on what people used to see as a crypto country and would affect several businesses ranging from private service providers to the banking system and crypto exchanges.
The regulator – speaking on behalf of the Singapore Central Bank – complained about the level of campaigning these crypto companies are using to lure in customers both online and in real life, and he pointed to the Automated Teller Machines as one of the ways they go about doing this. The ATM machines are also in public areas – which is expected due to ease of access being one of their functions – and that is causing people to get into the digital payment tokens. This could be seen as a blatant warning to people engaged in crypto trading that they do not fully grasp the risk behind their adopting of the coin and transacting with them on the market.
Since becoming what people term as a crypto country, Singapore has attempted to find the right equilibrium between the pros and cons of average, everyday people putting their hard-earned money into digital assets that have a tendency to sway up or down based on an unpredictable metric like on the ETH explorer. There used to be a few billboards campaigning for cryptocurrency, but those have since been removed. The co-chairman of the Blockchain Association Singapore voiced his opinion, saying that he concedes to the unpredictability of Singapore’s crypto not being conducive for the average citizen. Regardless, he believed that there were ways to safeguard investors from monetary ruin. One of them was to term crypto as specified investment products similar to structured warrants. Here, a trader in Singapore crypto shall be taken through some sort of assessment prior to being allowed to put money in cryptocurrency. He added that the younger generation is quite knowledgeable about crypto.
THE CHIEF MONETARY BODY IN THE COUNTRY CHOSE TO CLOSE DOWN CRYPTO ATMs
The Singapore Central Bank making this announcement has basically decimated the ATM network with regards to cryptocurrency. Crypto ATMs dishing out fiat from coins such as Bitcoin and Ethereum will have to find a different means to make a living and connect with their audience. It’s especially frustrating for institutions that flocked to Singapore after China’s ban on crypto – roughly 180 countries have submitted permit applications. This new regulated relationship with the blockchain will mean crypto adopters have no access to cryptocurrency ATMs to convert their Singapore crypto to actual money. This makes it harder to want to engage in trade on websites like https://redot.com/eth2/ because something like Ether that would be easily converted and withdrawn at an ATM is now much harder to access as a fiat currency.
This suppression follows the ones that happened in Spain and The United Kingdom. The United Kingdom also started looking into crypto adverts with the view to regulate them due to what the government perceived as misleading. Spain, on the other hand, took a softer approach, demanding that every cryptocurrency advertisement must be put through regulatory oversight ten days prior to the advert being released. It can only be campaigned after it’s been approved.
That being said, Singapore’s ban is still the most shocking because of the trend it was taking upwards. Maybe it was the bear trend that bitcoin is currently on or maybe the Government changed its mind. Either way, this must come as a shock to the citizens of a nation that ranked number 1 as the most accepting nation to cryptocurrency per Coincub, and the reason they won this was because of the Singaporean Government’s accepting legislature and positive rate of crypto adoption.
The MAS issuing new rules n the issuance of DPT (digital payment token) services to the people is completely against crypto institutions pushing their services to the wider population. In a nutshell, the fear that the MAS has is that this ATM network of crypto ATMs will encourage people to go more into Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies due to the ease with which they withdraw without really thinking about the downsides. Their solution to this fear was to ban all cryptocurrency ATM activities in the nation. While many might not agree with the solution, it will be disingenuous not to admit that there is a risk to investing in the blockchain network.
These new laws have shed a more uncertain light on the future of crypto and fiat currency working in tandem. It is mainly unsettling because it was Singapore that enacted these regulations. If the most crypto-friendly country in the world could make a U-turn and go against the crypto ecosystem so quickly, what does that say about the security of decentralized finance in other nations? And is this just the beginning of the clampdown on Singapore crypto? Will there be more regulations? From the looks of things, that is very possible, but as always, we’ll have to wait and see.