Singapore's central bank explains why Binance was on its alert list, but FTX was not
The Monetary Authority of Singapore had its reasons, and there was nothing more it could have done about the FTX threat , just like the other national regulatory authorities.
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The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country's central bank, issued a statement on Nov. 21 to address "certain questions and misconceptions that have arisen in the wake of the FTX.com debacle (FTX )".
The first point MAS wanted to make was that it could not protect local users from the fallout of FTX's collapse "for example by freezing their assets or ensuring that FTX backed its assets with reserves” because “FTX is not licensed by MAS and operates offshore. MAS has consistently warned of the dangers of dealing with unregulated entities.”
Yet it was Binance that ended up on the MAS Investor Alert List. Indeed, Binance, unlike FTX, was actively targeting Singapore users with Singapore dollar-denominated offerings and payment options through local issuers. MAS noted that it received "several" complaints about Binance between January and August 2021.
MAS forced Binance to stop soliciting Singaporean users and take several steps to show compliance, such as geo-blocking local IP addresses. He also referred Binance to the country's Department of Commercial Affairs to determine whether the exchange violated the Payment Services Act. Singaporean users were able to access FTX services nonetheless.
Related: MAS Doesn't Trust Retail Crypto Investments and Considers More Regulations
The purpose of the Investor Alert List, the MAS explained, is "to warn the public about entities that may be mistakenly perceived to be regulated by the MAS, particularly those that solicit Singaporean clients. for financial activities without the required MAS license". That doesn't mean the list should contain all the "hundreds" of crypto exchanges in the world, according to MAS. "I...
The Monetary Authority of Singapore had its reasons, and there was nothing more it could have done about the FTX threat , just like the other national regulatory authorities.
New
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country's central bank, issued a statement on Nov. 21 to address "certain questions and misconceptions that have arisen in the wake of the FTX.com debacle (FTX )".
The first point MAS wanted to make was that it could not protect local users from the fallout of FTX's collapse "for example by freezing their assets or ensuring that FTX backed its assets with reserves” because “FTX is not licensed by MAS and operates offshore. MAS has consistently warned of the dangers of dealing with unregulated entities.”
Yet it was Binance that ended up on the MAS Investor Alert List. Indeed, Binance, unlike FTX, was actively targeting Singapore users with Singapore dollar-denominated offerings and payment options through local issuers. MAS noted that it received "several" complaints about Binance between January and August 2021.
MAS forced Binance to stop soliciting Singaporean users and take several steps to show compliance, such as geo-blocking local IP addresses. He also referred Binance to the country's Department of Commercial Affairs to determine whether the exchange violated the Payment Services Act. Singaporean users were able to access FTX services nonetheless.
Related: MAS Doesn't Trust Retail Crypto Investments and Considers More Regulations
The purpose of the Investor Alert List, the MAS explained, is "to warn the public about entities that may be mistakenly perceived to be regulated by the MAS, particularly those that solicit Singaporean clients. for financial activities without the required MAS license". That doesn't mean the list should contain all the "hundreds" of crypto exchanges in the world, according to MAS. "I...
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