While speaking at the Singapore FinTech Festival 2022 on Nov. 3, the CEO of US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Brian Armstrong expressed concern that Singapore wants to become a forward-thinking regulator, but it is not welcoming cryptocurrency trading.

Armstrong stated, “Singapore wants to be a hub for Web3 and at the same time say, ‘Oh, we’re really not going to allow retail or self-hosted wallets to be available.’ He then he said, “Those two things are incompatible in my mind.”

Armstrong further said: “Cryptocurrencies should not be treated at a disadvantage; they should be treated the same as other financial services regulations.”

Armstrong’s comments came after Coinbase obtained approval in principle from the Central Bank of Singapore to offer digital payment token services in the city-state last month.

Meanwhile, Sopnendu Mohanty, Director of Fintech at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and Ravi Menon, Managing Director of the Central Bank who were present at the event responded to Armstrong’s concerns.

Mohanty said that today’s retail investors are “exposed to risks they don’t understand they’re taking.” He said that the central bank of Singapore believes that Web 3.0 is the future, but wants to ensure that money traded within the ecosystem is a secure currency. Mohanty explained that while the regulator doesn’t care about Internet protocols, he does care about consumers and wants to make sure they are protected.

On the other hand, Mr. Menon responded that MAS “wants to turn the city-state into a ‘crypto hub’ fueled by instant settlements, tokenized assets and programmable money, without ‘speculating in cryptocurrencies.’”

Menon said that Singapore wants to be a hub for crypto assets, but does not want to be a hub where cryptocurrency transactions and speculation take place.

Menon further explained that “the real value in the crypto industry comes from tokenizing assets and placing them on a distributed ledger for use cases that increase economic efficiency.”

Menon’s comments at the conference came after Hong Kong officials announced at their own annual meeting, Hong Kong FinTech Week, a series of policies to re-attract investment in digital assets.

The announcement noted that Hong Kong has joined the race to become Asia’s leading financial center.

On Monday this week, Hong Kong released a review of crypto regulations that puts it on a path towards legalizing retail. The policy even gave companies the opportunity to start crypto futures-based exchange-traded funds. Officials are also keen to review the property rights of tokenized assets and the legality of smart contracts.

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