Regulations on Trading and Investing in Crypto Assets

MAS released a consultation paper in Oct 2022, seeking feedback for proposed regulatory measures that constitute as basic investor protection (for retail customers), in view of growing consumer interest in cryptocurrencies. 

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According to MAS (Parliamentary Replies)
last revised on 30 November 2022

10. Importantly, DPT service providers are currently not regulated for safety and soundness, nor for investor protection. This is also the prevailing approach in most jurisdictions.

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13. Going forward, MAS plans to introduce some basic investor protection measures for DPT service providers which are licensed in Singapore. MAS recently published a consultation paper, which includes proposals that DPT service providers, amongst other things:

(a) Administer a risk awareness test to evaluate if potential retail customers are suitable for accessing cryptocurrency services; 
(b) Segregate customers’ assets from their own assets so as to prevent lending out of customers’ money and protect customer interests should the service provider fail; and
(c) Refrain from operating a trading platform while simultaneously taking proprietary positions for their own account, to prevent conflicts of interest.