Singapore’s central bank calls blockchain ‘fundamental’ tech to change financial services

Singapore’s central bank is counting on blockchain, along with artificial intelligence, to serve as “fundamental” technologies that will help transform financial services, according to a senior official.

Deep changes are expected from the adoption of those two technologies, according to Damien Pang, who heads the technology infrastructure office at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), in his speech on Wednesday at an annual blockchain and cryptocurrency forum hosted by industry publication CoinDesk in the city state for the first time.

“We take an approach where our regulations aim at the purpose rather than the technology platform itself,” Pang said on stage at the event called Consensus: Singapore. “We aim not to directly regulate a specific technology itself, because technologies are always getting better.”

Singapore’s blockchain-friendly environment looked to bolster its own transformation into the world’s top cryptocurrency haven, following the crackdown in China on the trading of digital currencies and crowdsourced fundraising called initial coin offerings (ICOs) that use cryptocurrencies.

Chinese start-ups imToken, which developed one of the first cryptocurrency wallet apps to support the ethereum blockchain; Bitmain, operator of the world’s largest bitcoin mining collective; and Huobi Group, which runs the world’s third biggest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume, have each set up regional headquarters in Singapore amid the crackdown on digital currencies and ICOs by Beijing.

While the Chinese government is looking to adopt blockchain in areas from record management to cybersecurity, Beijing has made it clear it does not want retail investors to get involved with cryptocurrency exchanges and ICO schemes because of concerns these activities would cause financial instability.