{"id":75142,"date":"2022-12-18T02:10:08","date_gmt":"2022-12-18T02:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/12\/18\/singapores-crypto-ambitions-shaken-by-ftx-collapse\/"},"modified":"2022-12-18T02:10:08","modified_gmt":"2022-12-18T02:10:08","slug":"singapores-crypto-ambitions-shaken-by-ftx-collapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/12\/18\/singapores-crypto-ambitions-shaken-by-ftx-collapse\/","title":{"rendered":"Singapore’s crypto ambitions shaken by FTX collapse"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

There was a time when it looked like Singapore would become a global cryptocurrency hub.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Authorities had signaled an early interest in using blockchain technology. This, coupled with the city-state’s favorable business environment, attracted digital asset companies and a growing investor community.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

In 2021, investments in industry in Singapore increased tenfold compared to the previous year to USD 1.48 billion, according to KPMG.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

2022 could not have been more different.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Crypto assets and companies – many with ties to Singapore – have imploded, causing repercussions and losses around the world. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

First, a popular token called Terra Luna crashed, causing its sister token, TerraUSD, which was largely stable, to crash. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A few months later, Singapore-based crypto hedge fund Three Arrows filed for bankruptcy, taking crypto exchange Voyager Digital to its knees. In August, crypto lender Hodlnaut became the next in a growing line of victims.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The shutdowns of major market participants are believed to have wiped out $1.5 trillion in crypto market cap this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Then, in November, billions were lost in a matter of days when US crypto exchange FTX spectacularly collapsed on a crippling liquidity crisis. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has since been indicted by US authorities for “one of the largest financial frauds in US history”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
    \n
  • FTX founder Bankman-Fried refused bail in the Bahamas<\/li>\n
  • The Case of “King of Cryptography” Sam Bankman-Fried<\/li>\n
  • Crypto exchange FTX owes its top creditors $3.1 billion <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
    \n

    For Singapore, the FTX collapse was particularly shocking. His state investment fund Temasek had invested in the stock market and pumped in $275 million over several months. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Temasek says it will write off the money and is conducting an internal review of the investment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    The fund is valued at more than $295 billion, making the FTX investment a small percentage of its public asset portfolio.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    But Singapore’s deputy prime minister, who is also finance minister, told parliament the loss had caused reputational damage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    “The fact that other leading global institutional investors like BlackRock and Sequoia Capital have also invested in FTX doesn’t mitigate this,” Lawrence Wong said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Tail investors have also been hurt, and many believe Singaporean authorities should have done more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Nicole Yap, 26, says she wasn’t shy about investing in the stock market because so many big companies backed her. She’s lost about US$150,000 (\u00a3122,000) but believes the responsibility shouldn’t lie entirely with the user.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    “You need regulation — the government or the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — to say, ‘These companies are good, we’ve seen their books,'” says Ms. Yap.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    \u201cJust because there is a lot of scams in crypto doesn’t mean crypto is a scam. But the users don’t have a platform to learn about these things. We only have social media and crypto influencers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Carol Lim started investing in cryptocurrency during the pandemic. The 52-year-old hoped to earn enough money for retirement in the next few years. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    \u201cI invested in Hodlenaut because the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) backed it. In today’s terms, I’ve lost about $55,000. I can only hope to get some of that back.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Hodlenaut was one of a few companies to receive approval in principle from the Central Bank of Singapore to provide digital payment services. License approval was revoked when market conditions forced the lender to halt disbursements.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    \u201cThe crux of the problem is that there is some misunderstanding among regulators. You want to lure businesses into your jurisdiction, but you need to regulate to keep consumers safe,\u201d said Michael Gronager, CEO and co-founder of blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Mr Gronager says because consumers are so global these days, regulators have to decide whether to enforce legislation for the company – like giving them a license to operate in the country – or restrict trading access for retail investors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    FTX was not licensed to operate in Singapore. However, according to MAS, it is not possible to prevent local users from accessing foreign service providers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    “We’re going to see scams and quick bucks in the industry – that’s no surprise. We see it on the internet, we see it in all kinds of traditional industries,\u201d says Mr. Gronager.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Singapore had already started rolling out new measures ahead of the FTX saga, warning that the technology can be volatile and speculative. It banned crypto advertising earlier this year and is investigating a number of outlets in the island nation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, exited Singapore last year after being placed on an investor alert list for soliciting customers without the required license and offering transactions in Singapore dollars. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n
    \n
      \n
    • Demand for tighter crypto rules after FTX collapse<\/li>\n
    • \u201cWaiting to get \u00a32,000 back from crypto giant\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
      \n

      The crackdown has subsequently drawn criticism from industry players such as Brian Armstrong, co-founder and CEO of US-based crypto exchange platform Coinbase.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

      \n

      “Singapore wants to be a hub for Web3 (a vision of the next iteration of the internet that uses blockchains and cryptocurrencies) and then simultaneously says, ‘Oh, we’re not really going to allow retail or self-hosted wallets to be available,'” he said on the Singapore FinTech Festival in November. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

      \n

      “These two things are incompatible in my opinion,” he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

      \n

      Singapore’s government says it remains passionate about crypto and wants to continue becoming a hub for virtual assets, with a focus on the business and administrative side of blockchain technology.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

      \n

      She has promised to curb risk by proposing knowledge tests for retail investors before they are allowed to trade, acknowledging that this could mean retail-focused companies could migrate to other jurisdictions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

      \n

      \u201cCryptocurrency platforms can collapse due to fraud, unsustainable business models, or excessive risk-taking. FTX is not the first cryptocurrency platform to collapse, nor will it be the last,\u201d Mr Wong said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

      \n

      “Those who trade cryptocurrencies must be prepared to lose all their value. No regulation can eliminate that risk.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      There was a time when it looked like Singapore would become a global cryptocurrency hub. Authorities had signaled an early interest in using blockchain technology. This, coupled with the city-state’s favorable business environment, attracted digital asset companies and a growing investor community. In 2021, investments in industry in Singapore increased tenfold compared to the previous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\nSingapore's crypto ambitions shaken by FTX collapse - Tahrir News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/12\/18\/singapores-crypto-ambitions-shaken-by-ftx-collapse\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Singapore's crypto ambitions shaken by FTX collapse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There was a time when it looked like Singapore would become a global cryptocurrency hub. Authorities had signaled an early interest in using blockchain technology. This, coupled with the city-state’s favorable business environment, attracted digital asset companies and a growing investor community. In 2021, investments in industry in Singapore increased tenfold compared to the previous […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/12\/18\/singapores-crypto-ambitions-shaken-by-ftx-collapse\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tahrir News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-18T02:10:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Tahrir News\",\"description\":\"News all over the world\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/12\/18\/singapores-crypto-ambitions-shaken-by-ftx-collapse\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/12\/18\/singapores-crypto-ambitions-shaken-by-ftx-collapse\/\",\"name\":\"Singapore's crypto ambitions shaken by FTX collapse - Tahrir News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-18T02:10:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-18T02:10:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5eb9492fbc67154812b39589e826b6e4\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/12\/18\/singapores-crypto-ambitions-shaken-by-ftx-collapse\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/12\/18\/singapores-crypto-ambitions-shaken-by-ftx-collapse\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/12\/18\/singapores-crypto-ambitions-shaken-by-ftx-collapse\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Business\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/category\/business\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Singapore’s crypto ambitions shaken by FTX collapse\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5eb9492fbc67154812b39589e826b6e4\",\"name\":\"megahed\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ee3294b28670178246ce92a6679bf959bc435d2fcd9cb9ab078702487c106df?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ee3294b28670178246ce92a6679bf959bc435d2fcd9cb9ab078702487c106df?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"megahed\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Singapore's crypto ambitions shaken by FTX collapse - Tahrir News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/12\/18\/singapores-crypto-ambitions-shaken-by-ftx-collapse\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Singapore's crypto ambitions shaken by FTX collapse","og_description":"There was a time when it looked like Singapore would become a global cryptocurrency hub. Authorities had signaled an early interest in using blockchain technology. This, coupled with the city-state’s favorable business environment, attracted digital asset companies and a growing investor community. In 2021, investments in industry in Singapore increased tenfold compared to the previous […]","og_url":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/12\/18\/singapores-crypto-ambitions-shaken-by-ftx-collapse\/","og_site_name":"Tahrir News","article_published_time":"2022-12-18T02:10:08+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/","name":"Tahrir News","description":"News all over the world","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/12\/18\/singapores-crypto-ambitions-shaken-by-ftx-collapse\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/12\/18\/singapores-crypto-ambitions-shaken-by-ftx-collapse\/","name":"Singapore's crypto ambitions shaken by FTX collapse - Tahrir News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-12-18T02:10:08+00:00","dateModified":"2022-12-18T02:10:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5eb9492fbc67154812b39589e826b6e4"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/12\/18\/singapores-crypto-ambitions-shaken-by-ftx-collapse\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/12\/18\/singapores-crypto-ambitions-shaken-by-ftx-collapse\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/12\/18\/singapores-crypto-ambitions-shaken-by-ftx-collapse\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Business","item":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/category\/business\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Singapore’s crypto ambitions shaken by FTX collapse"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5eb9492fbc67154812b39589e826b6e4","name":"megahed","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ee3294b28670178246ce92a6679bf959bc435d2fcd9cb9ab078702487c106df?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ee3294b28670178246ce92a6679bf959bc435d2fcd9cb9ab078702487c106df?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"megahed"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75142\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}