Trading in cryptocurrency: is it acceptable?

IN May last year (2018), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued a warning to eight digital token exchanges in Singapore not to facilitate trading in digital tokens that are deemed to be capital markets products under the Securities and Futures Act (SFA) without MAS' authorisation. It also warned an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) issuer to stop the offering of its digital tokens in Singapore.

What are digital tokens or ICOs?

Digital tokens generally refer to a category of digitally-recorded instruments, which include digital payment tokens, or more commonly known as cryptocurrencies, and tokens issued through ICOs. An ICO is the rough equivalent of an IPO in the mainstream investment world.