Singapore Considers Positively Regulating Digital Currencies

With Bitcoin reaching new all-time highs in the year 2017 and with adoption increasing, this has attracted the attention of governments throughout the world, which are now considering the idea of regulating the digital currency.

During the last couple of days, Iran, Kazakhstan, and Cyprus have all issued statements on what’s next for regulating digital currencies. Singapore will soon join the race, as now long ago, Ravi Menon, the managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, known as MAS, mentioned that currently, the country does not intend to regulate Bitcoin and other digital currencies, or the crypto market.

In a recent press statement, he mentioned that: “We’ve taken the approach that the currency itself does not pose the risk that warrants regulation. It is a known fact that cryptocurrencies are quite often abused for illicit financing purposes, so we do want to have AML/CFT controls in place. So those requirements apply to the activity around cryptocurrency, rather than the cryptocurrency itself.”

This approach is not only mature but is also bound to help the digital currency ecosystem further develop in the region. However, he also noted that the country’s central bank would keep an open mind and continuously research digital currencies. Therefore, if needed, in the future, possible regulation may be provided to help businesses, investors, and consumers.

In case Singapore decides to adopt a positive regulation of digital currencies, which will likely be the case, then chances are that in the future, the Asian region including Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong will become an excellent hub for digital currency developments and users. Analysts believe that this could be the case, considering the fact that this region is the powerhouse of Asia, and Japan alone is responsible for roughly 68% of worldwide Bitcoin trading activity.

We’re interested in learning whether governments will consider regulation of Bitcoin gambling as well in the future, given the rising trend of finding ways to regulate digital currencies.

Based on everything that has been outlined so far, what are your thoughts on the matter? Will Asia become a hub for digital currencies? Will Bitcoin poker rooms and casinos be regulated anytime soon? Is this even needed? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.