CZ laments Singapore’s “conservative” stance towards crypto

• Last year saw the collapse of several Singaporean crypto firms such as 3AC and Hodlnaut.
• The state also lost its investment worth millions in FTX.

Singapore’s crypto policy has become more “conservative” after the collapse of FTX [FTT] last year, said Binance [BNB] CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao. Nonetheless, the country remained a crypto-friendly destination, he added.

Tighter regulations generally have forced many traditional financial (TradFi) institutions from engaging with crypto products. However, there are a few firms coming up, he added.

The Binance CEO made these remarks while addressing a conference in Singapore via video conferencing, reported Bloomberg.

Binance, the world’s leading crypto exchange, was in the news recently when it emerged that its U.S. CEO Brian Shroder resigned amidst layoffs. The U.S. office was firing one-third of its workforce.

Ripple [XRP] CEO Brad Garlinghouse was attending the same conference on 12 September when he remarked that countries like Singapore, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, and Switzerland have clear crypto policies, unlike the U.S.

He added,

“The only country I would not encourage you to start a company right now is in the U.S.”

On the sidelines of the event, Garlinghouse also spoke to Bloomberg on 13 September. He said that this year, Ripple will be hiring 80% of its staff outside the U.S. in countries like Singapore where there is more regulatory clarity.

He emphasized the cooperation between the government and the crypto industry in such countries.

Both Binance and Ripple are facing regulatory scrutiny in the U.S. While the former is still battling the charges, the latter secured a partial victory.

Singapore’s tryst with crypto turned costly last year

Singapore also had its fair share of troubles with the crypto industry last year.

The island nation was home to the crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) that went bankrupt last year in the wake of Terra Luna [LUNA]’s collapse in May 2022. Terra’s collapse also led to the Singapore-based crypto lender Hodlnaut losing around $190 million.

In an interesting turn of events, the crypto exchange OPNX offered to acquire Hodlnaut last month. OPNX is another venture launched by the founders of 3AC.

The collapse of FTX in November 2022 was also a shocker for Singapore, as the state’s investment fund Temasek Holdings had invested $275 million in the exchange earlier. The fund wrote off its entire investment within a few days of the disaster.

Singapore is now treading with caution in regard to cryptocurrency but isn’t cracking down on the industry.