If on the one hand some countries are moving towards a legislation to develop a better regulated cryptocurrencies market, others take the opposite path. As examples of such discrepancies, we can mention the cryptocurrencies regulation scenario in Japan and Singapore.
Japan seeks greater protection to cryptoassets holders
At the end of May, the House of representatives of Japan officially approved a new draft bill that aims to change the crypto regulation in country.
The new proposal aims at introducing amendments to two national laws that apply to the cryptoassets. They are the Law of Funds Compensation and the Law of Financial Instruments and Exchange. With the approval, the expectation is that the new rules come into force in April 2020.
The amendments have as main goal to establish greater users’ protection and mitigating risks in the sector. For that reason, the changes forecast a new regulatory structure, more transparent and with more rigid standards for the assets trading.
In addition, the bill establishes a legal change of the name cryptocurrencies. They shall now be called “cryptoassets”. Previously, they were known in the country as “virtual currencies”.
Singapore moves away from the regulation of cryptocurrencies
On the other hand in Singapore, the history of the cryptocurrencies had new chapters that follow in the opposite direction. Recently, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has stated that it does not intend to promote the regulation of the cryptocurrencies. According to the Minister of the entity, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the concern would be with the anonymity and the transfers’ speed performed by the cryptocurrencies. Additionally, he has stressed that the adopted measure is designed to prevent the popularity that could occur regarding the assets.
With the statement, the Minister reaffirmed that there is a distinction between “electronic money” and “DPTs” (digital payment tokens, or cryptocurrencies), as foreseen in the new Law for Payment Services, which was approved in January and will enter into force at the end of the year.
According to Shanmugaratnam, the guidelines for electronic money are intended to strengthen the regulation of payment services providers, facilitating innovation in this area. The new rules apply to any payment services for companies of Singapore.
The Minister had also stated that MAS decided not to regulate the activities of the cryptocurrencies in a strict manner as it was done with the electronic money, because the sector is still immature and the regulation would unduly validate it.
Different visions in the regulation of the cryptocurrencies in Japan and Singapore
The regulation discrepancies regarding the cryptocurrencies in Japan and Singapore display two distinctive views about the cryptoassets. While the Japanese Government understands the cryptocurrencies as a maturing market, Singapore still sees more risks than benefits to regulate this market.
