The Monetary Authority of Singapore, the city-state’s central bank, told a local trading platform that it would not interfere with its Bitcoin services.
“Whether or not businesses accept Bitcoins in exchange for their goods and services is a commercial decision in which MAS does not intervene,” officials told Coin Republic.
This is congruent with previous statements the Singapore government made regarding its intention to remain uninvolved with digital currencies.
This is one more piece of evidence for those who believe Singapore is poised to take over Switzerland’s role as the world’s banking capital, especially as digital-currency economies evolve. As we’ve written before,“many Singaporeans are fluent in tech, and local merchants quickly grasp the benefits of processing Bitcoin payments.”
Singapore already is home to more than $450 billion in offshored wealth, much of that from China, where the People’s Bank has cast a chill over the Bitcoin economy with recent pronouncements.
In contrast to Singapore’s stance, there has been a great deal of hand-wringing already in Switzerland, though a motion has been put forth in its parliament to regard Bitcoins as foreign currency.
Previously, MAS had issued a warning to speculators that trading cryptocurrencies carried with them certain risks, but the September statement amounted to nothing more than a “proceed with caution” notice.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin itself seems to have stabilized in value after seismic activity in China brought about a slump earlier this month. At the time of writing, BTC-USD trades continue to hover in the neighborhood of $650 to $670.