Singaporean Investors’ Appetite for Crypto Is Key to Mainstream Acceptance – Survey

As Singapore continues to play an active role in driving crypto adoption in Asia Pacific, 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 ages and genders of Singapore’s population, revealed a strong affinity for various financial opportunities emerging through decentralized finance (DeFi) and other investment opportunities.

As explained by Raks Sondhi, Managing Director of Independent Reserve Singapore, the rapid adoption of crypto in the country is being driven by a high level of trust and confidence in crypto’s future:

“58% [Singaporeans surveyed] Think of bitcoin as an asset or store of value.”

Supporting the above trend, more than half of the people surveyed showed a likelihood of recommending cryptocurrency investments to their friends and family. In 2021, nearly 60% of Singapore investors believed in crypto’s potential to achieve mass adoption. This year, however, 15% of respondents have started considering Bitcoin (BTC) as a real form of money.

According to the Independent Reserve, increasing investor confidence in the Singapore market boils down to addressing seven key factors: clarity about government regulations, education on how it works, companies using it, price stability, an option to ensure crypto, ease of access and use and not be monitored.

According to the survey, the clarity of government regulations will result in the highest participation from Singaporean investors. It has also been found that investors from high-income households are more likely to invest in cryptocurrencies.

The price stability of cryptocurrencies and education also turned out to be the most important factors affecting the participation of crypto investors. Despite the concerns, Singapore crypto interest remains on the uptrend, with continued buying interest:

“47% plan to increase investments in their current crypto portfolio over the next 12 months.”

Concluding the survey, Independent Reserve emphasized that younger adults between the ages of 18 and 25 are the most willing to diversify into DeFi or non-fungible token (NFT) projects.

Related: Singapore wants to tighten financial regulatory authority over crypto firms

The Singapore government has passed legislation giving the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) additional powers to respond to crypto firms doing business outside of the country.

As Cointelegraph reported, MAS revealed that the latest legislation requires crypto companies operating overseas to be licensed and subject to anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (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 a particular jurisdiction as they operate primarily online.”