As Singapore continues to play an active role in boosting crypto adoption across the Asia-Pacific region, the country’s first licensed crypto exchange Independent Reserve conducted a retail-focused survey to better understand the underlying potential of the regulated market.
Independent Reserve’s survey — conducted across all age groups and genders of the Singapore population — revealed a strong affinity for various financial opportunities brought forward by decentralized finance (DeFi) and other investment opportunities.
As explained by Raks Sondhi, managing director of Independent Reserve Singapore, the country’s rapid crypto adoption is driven by high level of trust and confidence in the future of crypto:
“58% [Singaporeans surveyed] perceive Bitcoin as an investment asset or a store of value.”
Supporting the above trend, more than half of the surveyed individuals showed a likeliness to recommend cryptocurrency investments to their friends and family. In 2021, nearly 60% of investors in Singapore believed in crypto’s potential to reach mass-scale adoption. This year, however, 15% of the respondents have started considering Bitcoin (BTC) as a real form of money.
According to Independent Reserve, increasing investors’ trust in the Singapore market boils down to tackling seven key factors: clarity around government regulations, education about how it works, businesses using it, stability in price, an option to ensure crypto, ease of access and use and not being monitored.
Based on the survey, clarity around government regulations will result in the highest participation from Singaporean investors. It was also found that investors coming from high-income households were more likely to invest in cryptocurrencies.
The price stability of cryptocurrencies and education were also revealed to be the top factors impacting the participation of crypto investors. Despite the concerns, interest in crypto continues to be on an uptrend in Singapore, with continued interest to purchase:
“47% plan to increase investment into their current crypto portfolio in the next 12 months.”
Concluding the survey, Independent Reserve highlighted that younger adults between 18 and 25 years were most willing to diversify into DeFi or nonfungible token (NFT) projects.
Related: Singapore aims to streamline financial watchdog’s authority over crypto firms
The Singaporean government approved legislation, giving the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) additional power to respond to crypto firms doing business outside the country.
As Cointelegraph reported, MAS revealed that the latest legislation will require crypto businesses working off-shore to be licensed and subject to Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) requirements. Speaking on behalf of the new ruling, MAS board member Alvin Tan stated:
“Digital token service providers could easily structure their businesses to evade regulation in any one jurisdiction, as they operate mainly online.”