Singapore’s finance regulator tells crypto firms not to promote services

The Monetary Authority of Singapore has advised local crypto companies to avoid advertising their services to the public.

This includes placing any form of advertisements or promotional materials in public areas, such as public transport and related venues, public websites, broadcast and print media, and the provision of ATMs.

The move by the financial regulator came after the city-state expressed the overall need to constrain retail speculation in volatile digital assets.

According to the recommendations, all service providers should only advertise their actions on their own websites, mobile applications, or their official social media accounts.

MAS’ guideline, therefore, plans to cover a large piece of financial sector including banks, payment service providers and crypto exchanges.

“MAS strongly encourages the development of blockchain technology and innovative application of crypto tokens in value-adding use cases,” said the central bank’s assistant managing director for policy, payments and financial crime Loo Siew Yee.

He added that the trading of cryptocurrencies was highly risky and not suitable for the general public.

“MAS has observed that some crypto service providers have been actively promoting their services through online and physical advertisements or through the provision of physical automated teller machines in public areas,” the regulator said.

Recently, Singapore approved Bitcoin fund that trades physical BTC and said it is keeping an ‘open mind’ on cryptocurrencies because the regulator wants technologies and innovation to develop.