The Block: Singapore currently has no plans to regulate NFTs

On Tuesday, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, senior minister and minister in charge of the Monetary Authority Singapore (MAS) said that there were no plans to regulate NFTs.

As reported by Fintech News, Tharman made this known in a written response to questions posed by the country’s parliament on the subject of NFTs.

According to Tharman, the regulatory body is taking a “tech-neutral” stance towards non-fungible tokens, even as crypto-collectibles become more popular in South East Asia. In January, as many as nine companies in Singapore were already involved in crypto collectible and metaverse-related ventures.

While regulators have warned about the risks of investing in NFTs, Tharman said it is not in MAS’ remit to police everything people choose to invest in.

The senior minister did, however, acknowledge that MAS’ position on NFTs could change. According to Tharman, concepts like fractional NFTs could require regulatory oversight from MAS.

“Should an NFT be structured to represent rights to a portfolio of listed shares, it will like other collective investment schemes be subject to prospectus requirements, licensing and business conduct requirements,” the senior minister stated.

MAS has begun enacting stricter regulatory requirements in Singapore. In January, the regulator published guidelines mandating companies to limit the scope of their crypto-related advertisements.