Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Tharman Shanmugaratnam, spoke at the WEF23 and stated a controversial take on crypto regulations and questioned if regulating crypto could legitimize speculation, VulcanPost reported.

Shanmugaratnam said:

“I think whether it’s crypto or traditional finance, you have to regulate for things like money laundering — that’s very clear.

But beyond that, if we’re thinking about regulating crypto the same way we regulate banks or insurance companies, I think we have to take a step back and ask a basic philosophical question: does that legitimize something that is inherently, purely speculative, and in fact slightly crazy?”

Instead, Shanmugaratnam argued that lawmakers could steer clear from the crypto sphere and make it really clear that the whole space is unregulated and investors have to invest on their own risk.

(By Zeynep Geylan)