Central banker says crypto not suitable for retail investors

A senior official at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) asked crypto traders to “reduce” their “enthusiasm”, and stated that Singapore was not a place to speculate.

Official angry at crypto speculation

Sopendu Mohanty is the chief fintech officer for the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and he repeatedly warned crypto companies to be careful about how they “lure” customers, according to an article in the South China Morning Post.

Mohanty was speaking at crypto wallet Cobo’s office opening ceremony in the country. He also took umbrage to many of the exhibitor booths 24 hours earlier at the Token2049 Conference, saying that the exhibitors were not displaying how speculative their offerings were. He stated:

“Singapore is not a place to speculate. We will be very, very hard on this behaviour.”

Mohanty pointed out that none of the advertisements for any of the cryptocurrency services pointed out the risk involved with investments, and he affirmed that the crypto asset class “is not suitable for retail investors”.

Traditional finance calls the shots

It is undoubtedly a good thing for all retail investors to have the full facts before making any kind of investments into crypto or indeed any other asset class. 

However, playing Big Brother by making decisions on behalf of retail investors as to what they can and cannot invest in is just the kind of thing that is common and widely accepted in traditional finance, in that the average investor is debarred from any worthwhile investments, which are only accessible by ‘accredited’ investors who can prove they have plenty of money.

Mohanty is certainly not alone when making these sorts of comments. The vast majority of bank officials, leaders of financial institutions and agencies, and just about anyone involved with traditional finance put forward pretty similar views which are generally slavishly covered by mainstream media.

For a regulatory official to get so angry at the thought of retail investors being allowed to take a punt on a crypto investment is par for the course in the times we live in. Absolutely nothing would be said if the same investor chose to put their entire worth on black at the roulette table, but perish the thought that an investor, struggling to make ends meet, might invest into any crypto-related company.

Traditional finance is broken

Officials such as Mohanty are embedded in a finance system that is teetering on the brink of complete chaos, and this should not give them the right to close all exits out of said system.

Given the seriousness of what the world is facing, with economic melt-down a threat that is becoming more real with every passing day, individuals need to be able to make the attempt to save themselves, and if this is by purchasing some bitcoin or by investing into layer1, DeFi, or any other crypto technology then they surely must be allowed to do so.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.