The Monetary Authority of Singapore issued a statement to defend its regulatory stance in the FTX debacle, in part by detailing the reason behind the difference in treatment when dealing with crypto rival Binance.
Unlike Binance, there was «no evidence» that FTX was specifically soliciting Singapore users, according to a statement from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which led to a difference in treatment.
«While both Binance and FTX are not licensed here, there is a clear difference between the two: Binance was actively soliciting users in Singapore while FTX was not,» the MAS said, highlighting complaints received between January and August 2021. «Binance in fact went to the extent of offering listings in Singapore dollars and accepted Singapore-specific payment modes such as PayNow and PayLah.»
In contrast, trades on FTX could not be transacted in Singapore dollars.
Investor Protection
As a result of a lack of license and soliciting evidence, MAS said that it is a «misconception» that Singapore users could be protected by moves such as ringfencing of FTX assets or assurance that they were backed with reserves.
And on whether it should list all offshore crypto exchanges on its investor alert list (IAL), the MAS said that it is not possible nor has any regulator done so.
«The purpose of the IAL is to warn the public of entities that may be wrongly perceived as being MAS-regulated. It does not mean that the thousands of other entities operating offshore, which are not listed on the IAL, are safe to deal with,» the MAS explained. «As MAS has repeatedly stated, there is no protection for customers who deal in cryptocurrencies. They can lose all their money.»
