Singapore government decides not to interfere with Bitcoin

December 25, 2013 Leave a comment

Singapore government decides not to interfere with Bitcoin

December 23, 2013

by Terence Lee

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s central bank, has decided not to intervene on whether businesses can accept Bitcoin as a means of transacting goods and services.“Whether or not businesses accept Bitcoins in exchange for their goods and services is a commercial decision in which MAS does not intervene,” it told Singapore-based Bitcoin trading platform Coin Republic in an email. Singapore is one of the world’s top finanacial hubs that is increasingly seen as a challenger to Switzerland’s private banking dominance.

The Singapore government has long maintained that the MAS does not regulate virtual currencies, so this latest statement is consistent with its stand. Depending on who you ask, this could be good or bad, since some Bitcoin proponents argue that the right regulations could give the currency legitimacy in the eyes of the public.

The last time MAS issued a statement on Bitcoin was in September, when it warned speculators about the risks of trading the cryptocurrency.

“If bitcoin ceases to operate, there may not be an identifiable party responsible for refunding their monies or for them to seek recourse,” said a spokesperson.

MAS’ announcement follows China’s recent crackdown on Bitcoin and revelations that BTC China, the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange by transaction volume, has ceased trading in RMB. These developments have sent prices tumbling down to below $500 before recovering to above $600. However, some observers believe that the resilience  is an indication that Bitcoin is no flash in the pan.

Countries around the world have reacted to Bitcoin in a variety of ways. According to David Moskowitz, founder of Coin Republic, Germany is very open to Bitcoin and has ruled that the currency is private money, Norway has deemed it not a currency but taxable, while the United Kingdom has chosen not to regulate it although tax rules apply (that policy might be reversed however).

Meanwhile, Japan is also leaving it unregulated, Canada maintains a low regulatory environment and open posture, and the United States is open to the currency but has issued exchange and tax guidance and wants strict regulations in place.

Filed under Macro Trends

Unknown's avatarAbout bambooinnovator
Kee Koon Boon (“KB”) is the co-founder and director of HERO Investment Management which provides specialized fund management and investment advisory services to the ARCHEA Asia HERO Innovators Fund (www.heroinnovator.com), the only Asian SMID-cap tech-focused fund in the industry. KB is an internationally featured investor rooted in the principles of value investing for over a decade as a fund manager and analyst in the Asian capital markets who started his career at a boutique hedge fund in Singapore where he was with the firm since 2002 and was also part of the core investment committee in significantly outperforming the index in the 10-year-plus-old flagship Asian fund. He was also the portfolio manager for Asia-Pacific equities at Korea’s largest mutual fund company. Prior to setting up the H.E.R.O. Innovators Fund, KB was the Chief Investment Officer & CEO of a Singapore Registered Fund Management Company (RFMC) where he is responsible for listed Asian equity investments. KB had taught accounting at the Singapore Management University (SMU) as a faculty member and also pioneered the 15-week course on Accounting Fraud in Asia as an official module at SMU. KB remains grateful and honored to be invited by Singapore’s financial regulator Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to present to their top management team about implementing a world’s first fact-based forward-looking fraud detection framework to bring about benefits for the capital markets in Singapore and for the public and investment community. KB also served the community in sharing his insights in writing articles about value investing and corporate governance in the media that include Business Times, Straits Times, Jakarta Post, Manual of Ideas, Investopedia, TedXWallStreet. He had also presented in top investment, banking and finance conferences in America, Italy, Sydney, Cape Town, HK, China. He has trained CEOs, entrepreneurs, CFOs, management executives in business strategy & business model innovation in Singapore, HK and China.

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