The winds of regulatory change are blowing in Singapore’s cryptocurrency sphere – a development that aims to shape the future of digital assets in the city-state. It started with the recent ruling in Singapore High Court, when Judge Philip Jeyaretnam likened cryptocurrency to fiat money and declared it personal property. He noted that the difference between crypto and tangible objects like shells is a mere illusion, as value creation lies in our collective belief.
This declaration emerged from a case opened by ByBit against a former staff member, Ho Kai Xin, who was accused of transferring approximately 4.2 million USDT from the exchange to her private accounts. The court’s decision to categorize USDT—and cryptocurrencies in general—as ‘property’, despite their intangible nature, marks a crucial step for the juridical status of digital assets.
But, there’s more than meets the eye here. The court’s conclusion breaks an age-old stigma that digital currencies lack so-called ‘real’ value. Judge Jeyaretnam has laid the foundation for a simple yet profound idea: Value, irrespective of its source, is simply “a judgment made by an aggregate of human minds.” Heavily borrowed from British common law, he categorized cryptocurrency as a “thing in action” or a type of property that could be claimed or enforced by legal action, not physical ownership.
The ruling also introduces a new dimension to the pending changes in Singapore’s regulation policy. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) was mentioned for its impending implementation of segregation and the custody requirements for digital payment tokens. The argument is, if these digital assets can be identified and separated practically, it must be feasible to hold them legally.
All these precedents mirror a parallel decision made by the High Court of Justice in London back in May 2022, when nonfungible tokens (NFTs) were also declared “private property”. This highlighted trend propels the conversation around credibility and security of investments in NFTs, suggesting an overall positive tilt towards securing property rights of investors.
However, with triumphs also come challenges. The welcoming attitude of Singapore’s legal bodies towards crypto adoption might face potential blowbacks pertaining to inter-country regulatory conformance, cybersecurity threats, and the volatile fiscal landscape. It’s a tale of two cities, fostering growth and innovation on one hand and grappling with associated risks on the other. As we step into a new era of digital evolution, only time can unveil the implications these pioneering stances will leave on the global stage.
Source: Cointelegraph
