Singapore's Central Bank Outlines When ICOs Are and Aren't Securities

[tyz]

Singapore's de facto central bank has published new guidelines on initial coin offerings (ICOs), outlining how token sales would be viewed under its securities laws.

According to a Nov. 14 statement from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), tokens sold through the blockchain funding model may be considered securities under certain circumstances, citing Singapore's Securities and Futures Act (SFA) as well as the Financial Advisers Act.

The MAS said:

"Offers or issues of digital tokens may be regulated by MAS if the digital tokens are capital markets products under the SFA. Capital markets products include any securities, futures contracts and contracts or arrangements for purposes of leveraged foreign exchange trading."

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[audaciousbeing]

Singapore's de facto central bank has published new guidelines on initial coin offerings (ICOs), outlining how token sales would be viewed under its securities laws.

According to a Nov. 14 statement from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), tokens sold through the blockchain funding model may be considered securities under certain circumstances, citing Singapore's Securities and Futures Act (SFA) as well as the Financial Advisers Act.

The MAS said:

"Offers or issues of digital tokens may be regulated by MAS if the digital tokens are capital markets products under the SFA. Capital markets products include any securities, futures contracts and contracts or arrangements for purposes of leveraged foreign exchange trading."

Good for them, at least they are regulating rather than taking the cheap way out which is banning the issue of ICOs. I actually like the way Singapore is developing and taking a bold step regarding crypto currency is what I see as a step in the right direction.

However, my concern is the guideline because even I as someone who is a little bit finance inclined do not understand what is being quoted talk less of a developer whose function and the only thing he knows is coding while the fund needed to pursue such approval will only have to be gotten through a form of pre-ico. The way out of this is to make the approval to be gotten a little more flexible because crypto fund raising is not the same as fiat fund raising within the country. The implementation is what matters now.

[Silberman]

Singapore's de facto central bank has published new guidelines on initial coin offerings (ICOs), outlining how token sales would be viewed under its securities laws.

According to a Nov. 14 statement from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), tokens sold through the blockchain funding model may be considered securities under certain circumstances, citing Singapore's Securities and Futures Act (SFA) as well as the Financial Advisers Act.

The MAS said:

"Offers or issues of digital tokens may be regulated by MAS if the digital tokens are capital markets products under the SFA. Capital markets products include any securities, futures contracts and contracts or arrangements for purposes of leveraged foreign exchange trading."

Good for them, at least they are regulating rather than taking the cheap way out which is banning the issue of ICOs. I actually like the way Singapore is developing and taking a bold step regarding crypto currency is what I see as a step in the right direction.

However, my concern is the guideline because even I as someone who is a little bit finance inclined do not understand what is being quoted talk less of a developer whose function and the only thing he knows is coding while the fund needed to pursue such approval will only have to be gotten through a form of pre-ico. The way out of this is to make the approval to be gotten a little more flexible because crypto fund raising is not the same as fiat fund raising within the country. The implementation is what matters now.

Well the good thing is that a coder does not need to know about the laws he can hire lawyers that know about it and translate all that legal talk in normal speech and translate that to him to something he can understand, I also like that fact that  Singapore is choosing the smart approach of not banning icos completely, it seems they are understanding that crypto is going to be big in the next decade and they want a piece of the cake.

[yinyangwinwang]

Good to see the regulation keep on coming in this it only bodes well for crypto imo. Also people starting ICOs now can clearly see what is a security and what is not so there is no excuses later on down the line, ppl do your research!

[allthingsluxury]

Expect ever increasing scrutiny from central banks. Cryptos are a direct threat to fiat money and are therefore a direct threat to them.

[thejaytiesto]

The ICO model is still intact when it comes to scam per day rate. Anyone not willing to comply certain rules for ICO's will simply host the ICO elsewhere. Unfortunately no matter what governments do, when it comes to ICO scams, they can't stop it. People will need to learn the hard way to discern from scam to a project with some weight. Not an easy task on scamland.

[btc2mars]

This is a great news because it means at least govts are happy to take a closer look at things and be careful not to just ban everything outright which will stifle innovation and tech growth.

[damberg]

Where else should authorities start to catch up witch bitcoin/altcoins than in Singapore?  Seriously now. Although I like to see authorities thinking about blockchain, ICO's and so on, this particular statement does not say anything at all. They only came up with an idea that some ICO's can be regulated if they make them securities.

[VanDeinsberg12]

This is a great news because it means at least govts are happy to take a closer look at things and be careful not to just ban everything outright which will stifle innovation and tech growth.

They are trying to figure out how important the icos need to be regulated. But a lot of the team already built their project in there. Just like qtum which based on the singapore.
It's about million dollars and that was not small amount in my opinion. as you can see the more country are interested in it.
The singapore as the blockchain hub in this time.
Waiting for the more announcement from them.

[Erkallys]

Great to see Singapore step up in the regulatory field, but I would still like to know exactly what the rules are, because as of now it is not very clear.s

[shield132]

Of course banning won't deal situation and it even kills the possibility of some goos projects, I like the way Singapore is going to deal with this ICO problems.
But after all I don't support this, I prefer ICO's on its own and let people to learn on mistakes, these regulations and etc, it's not what we want.
Can't expect any good ICO in future..

[Rohitha]

Generally don't like governments regulating crypto. But having read through the document, seems very sensible, balancing the need of all parties - investors, law enforcement and the crypto community.

From my understanding, in summary - what they are saying is if the Token represents equity(shareholding) or debt(debenture) or an investment scheme, then it is regulated under their normal securities laws. But if it is none of the above, then the Token is not regulated.

Here is the link

[Lipe490]

Great! This is so much better than banning ICOS forever without a decent argument. The last country I thought would do that was Singapore. Regularization is needed and will bring so much confidence for new altcoins, and maybe this bring the biggest companie's attention who wants to invest. I hope that Central Bank have the focuses only in the security field and do not try to centralize anything coming from the ICO's. I am sure that this decision now will prevent scamming attempts and Singapore's government severely punishes fraudsters and treat them equally financial criminals.

[StarofBTC]

Good to see the regulation keep on coming in this it only bodes well for crypto imo. Also people starting ICOs now can clearly see what is a security and what is not so there is no excuses later on down the line, ppl do your research!

Now it is the time for bitcoin. As it is modern era now so people prefer bitcoin more than paper money because it is more easy and reliable to use than paper money. It make the money safe for the people and don't need a serious payment like a bank does. Now many countries and world banks will accept bitcoin as they come to know about it benefits with the passage of time.

[WiryEve]

Who is plannin to visit https://blockshowasia.com/  on 29-30?

[NERDNERDNERD]

Who is plannin to visit https://blockshowasia.com/  on 29-30?

Is it worth to go there? Ive checked their website but its a bit expenssive.

[WiryEve]

Who is plannin to visit https://blockshowasia.com/  on 29-30?

Is it worth to go there? Ive checked their website but its a bit expenssive.

there is a promo code VIP30...the offey 30% of discount, so think twice

[stompix]

Good for them, at least they are regulating rather than taking the cheap way out which is banning the issue of ICOs. I actually like the way Singapore is developing and taking a bold step regarding crypto currency is what I see as a step in the right direction.

It's going to have the same effect as a ban.
Until now nothing has gone past the SEC approval and certainly no shitty ICO is going to pass through the SFA.
Fortunately, there is no need for a ban anymore.
People have started to understand that all those tokens are just useless, and the sums put in there are getting smaller and smaller.
I've checked a few ICO's (I won't name them here) that with all the spam and their "projects, whitpapers, roadmaps" haven't managed to get more than 10-20 ETH in a week.

Trust me, we won't see any ICO approved by the SFA