The Monetary Authority of Singapore's managing director watches the cryptocurrency business with great interest. In a speech, he toyed with the image of cryptocurrencies representing the good, the bad and the ugly.
Calibrating digital currency risks while not damaging innovation in financial technology is a serious conundrum, Ravi Menon, the head of Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS), said in a speech at the first Money 20/20 event in Asia.
Though while cryptocurrencies are being used for payments, this doesn't make them legal tender, Menon added. As yet there are no crypto functions as a medium of exchange, a store of value, and a unit of account according to the MAS chief.
One Day Perhaps
He did not rule out the possibility that cryptocurrencies one day could become money saying: «With technology, we can never say never.»
According to Menon the critical test for crypto acceptance is public trust and approval, but he doubts people are ready to put their faith in money that is not backed by a trusted public institution like a central bank.
A Force for Good or Bad?
The MAS chief acknowledged in his speech that whether crypto's become legal tender or not, they are here and present real issues he referred to as the good, the bad, and the ugly.
For him the good is the underlying blockchain technology that cryptocurrencies help to power. The bad is the anonymity of crypto tokens making them well suited for facilitating illicit transactions. And the ugly referred to the speculative fever that has spread across the world.
