TechFlow News — Singapore's former Finance Minister and central bank chairman, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, has recently been elected as the country's new president. He previously described cryptocurrencies as "purely speculative" and "a bit crazy."
Although the presidency is largely ceremonial, Shanmugaratnam’s 22 years of experience in finance and economics may influence Singapore’s future policies on digital currencies and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
Singapore was once an early adopter of cryptocurrencies. However, during Shanmugaratnam’s tenure as Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the collapses of crypto firms Terraform Labs and Three Arrows Capital prompted the city-state to seek a more balanced regulatory approach.
Shanmugaratnam expressed views in both 2018 and 2023, calling cryptocurrencies "purely speculative" and "somewhat crazy," and advocated keeping them in an unregulated space. In contrast, Singapore applies different regulatory requirements for banks and stablecoins.
