Singapore encourages blockchain development and adoption
The beautiful country of Singapore has many positive attributes. It is described as a global financial hub, which results in it being an excellent environment for business. In addition, it has solid infrastructure and a stable political arena.
Through Project Ubin, Singapore's Central Bank partnered with a range of other banks and tech companies to examine the possibility of using the technology to facilitate payments, securities clearing and settlements. The project uses R3-developed blockchain technology, which is also integrated with Microsoft’s cloud service. This shows that the private sector is also interested in investing in blockchain.
However, the bank’s end goal is to put their dollar on the blockchain network. This shows how invested they are in this technology, making it a desirable location for other companies to develop blockchain initiatives.
Even though they are aware of the vast benefits of blockchain, the country’s government still has regulation processes in place. These include cryptocurrency intermediaries complying with certain requirements to prevent financing terrorism and laundering money. The bank has also provided a comprehensive guide on security laws in relation to ICOs.
To provide the supply to the blockchain demand, the country’s local universities, Singapore Management University (SMU) and Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), have added blockchain courses to the curriculums. These courses focus on how blockchain can be integrated into the world today.
This supply and demand gap is wide though. If there are not enough qualified and skilled blockchain professionals, Singapore may not be able to keep up with the speed at which blockchain is developing. This does however seem to be a global issue as well.
Many companies in the country are accepting crypto as a medium of exchange. This popularity has seemed to create a need for legal services. Dentons Rodyk and Wong Partnership aim to fill this niche market and will offer consultation and advice for upcoming ICOs for a range of companies. Aptoide, one of the world’s largest app stores, will base themselves in Singapore to conduct an ICO for their future initiatives.
However, the country still faces some challenges. So far, 11 companies that had their bank accounts terminated all had an interest in cryptocurrency as a common denominator. If these blockchain firms have no access to a bank account, it greatly hinders their ability to do business.
Crypto enthusiasts in the country have taken it upon themselves to educate the public on blockchain and the crypto industry in general, hopefully ensuring that Singapore remains a hub for blockchain projects and development.