According to a report by Bloomberg, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Thursday (23rd) released the final response document on feedback on the proposed regulations for Digital Payment Token (DPT) service providers in the country, proposing more rules to further strengthen the crackdown on retail speculation.
In the statement, MAS stated that DPT service providers shall not offer any incentives for retail cryptocurrency trading, nor provide financing, margin trading, or leverage trading, and platforms cannot accept local credit card payments.
MAS also expanded the scope of retail provisions to include all investors, “regardless of residency”. Previously, its retail restrictions only applied to investors residing in Singapore.
MAS also made it clear that incentives such as referrals, “learning while earning” programs, and similar promotions will be restricted. Regulatory measures for DPT services will be phased in starting from mid-2024.
Previous measures restricting retail participation in Singapore include plans to ban borrowing and staking services. However, Ho Hern Shin, Deputy Managing Director of MAS’ Financial Supervision Department, stated in a statement that even these proposed measures “cannot prevent customers from suffering losses due to the inherent speculative and high-risk nature of cryptocurrency trading”, and people should not transact with unregulated entities, including those based overseas.
Other requirements that MAS will soon implement include maintaining high availability and recoverability of critical systems, similar to what banks are required to do. The authority stated that cryptocurrency firms should also establish processes for handling complaints and resolving disputes.