The head of the monetary authority of Singapore (MAS), effectively the Central Bank of the city-state, spoke about the potential use of the blockchain in international payments.
During a speech at a financial event, held on Thursday, managing Director of MAS, Ravi Menon (Ravi Menon) has reinforced my view that one of the “best” cases, the use of cryptographic tokens — promotion of transboundary calculations:
“The problem that has set a project in Singapore Ubin is to use the blockchain technology to enable organizations in different jurisdictions to make payments to each other”.
Recall that in mid-November last year, the Central Bank of Singapore has announced a partnership with the Bank of Canada in the field of cross-border payments using blockchain technology. Now the collaboration involves “testing and development of cross-border payments using a cryptographic token issued by the two Central banks.”
Earlier, Menon spoke about the fact that, while he believes that a cryptographic token does not have the right to be called a currency, but not with full certainty that they will not become a currency in the future.
Also in the recent speech, he expressed concern about the growing risks associated with emerging fiscal technology, saying that MAS are increasingly watching areas such as fundraising, money laundering and their impact on financial stability.
Earlier this month, managing Director of MAS said his office “appreciates the need for additional regulation in the sphere of investment protection”. In continuation of this statement, Menon said:
“Investor protection is another pressing issue arising from crypto-mania. If crypto tokens represent ownership or security interest in the assets of the Issuer or any property, as well as debt of the Issuer, in accordance with the Law on securities and the futures they can be regarded as securities”.
Consequently, before the sale of the token issuers primary supply of coins must comply with the rules relating to securities.
In addition, according to Menon, the secondary markets that facilitate trade token-ICO must also be registered and approved by the MAS.
And yet, the managing Director also said that MAS does not want to stifle innovation around the blockchain technology, introducing burdensome regulation, although he acknowledged that achieving the right balance remains a challenge for the authorities.
