The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) recently stated that spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track itcoin">Bitcoin are not approved for offer to retail investors in Singapore. This announcement comes just one week after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gave the green light for the first itcoin">Bitcoin ETFs to begin trading on US markets.
The SEC’s approval provides institutional and retail investors in the US with exposure to itcoin">Bitcoin through the ETF structure, without having to directly hold the highly volatile cryptocurrency. On the first day of trading alone, US-listed itcoin">Bitcoin ETFs saw over $4.6 billion worth of shares change hands, highlighting significant investor appetite.
However, even as the SEC approved the itcoin">Bitcoin ETFs, its chair Gary Gensler cautioned that this did not represent an endorsement of itcoin">Bitcoin itself, which he described as a “highly speculative” and unstable asset.
In Singapore’s regulated financial markets, exchange-traded funds that are accessible to retail investors are considered collective investment schemes under the oversight of the Securities and Futures Act. These schemes face restrictions in terms of the types of assets they are allowed to invest in on behalf of retail investors.
To date, the MAS has not approved digital payment tokens such as itcoin">Bitcoin to be included as eligible assets for retail-accessible collective investment schemes in Singapore. Given this regulatory stance, spot cryptocurrency ETFs tracking itcoin">Bitcoin do not have MAS approval for offers to retail investors, though they were recently approved for US investors.
The MAS advised that those who still seek to trade itcoin">Bitcoin ETFs through overseas markets should exercise extreme caution given the risks involved. The regulator reiterated that it has not endorsed itcoin">Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as suitable investments for retail investors in Singapore.
