Back in Singapore, Crypto.com lost a modest (by crypto standards) US$35 million ($47 million) to a hack involving around 500 customers. Fortunately, users who had placed their faith in Matt Damon’s advertisement were reimbursed the stolen coins.
On January 17, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued guidelines discouraging cryptocurrency firms from advertising in public spaces. This was followed shortly by the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak pointing out that crypto assets can provide exciting new opportunities and offer people new ways to transact and invest but it is important that consumers are not being sold products with misleading claims. However, is it really all just about false advertising?
The late January crypto news flow did not improve globally as the Biden administration gets ready to take centre stage from the White House in driving what has thus far been a classic laissez-faire approach to crypto assets, with a lack of clarity and confusing regulation among various agencies from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Federal Reserve.
