Global: Cryptocurrency ATMs Close Down in Singapore Following Central Bank’s Announcement

Cryptocurrency ATMs are closing down in Singapore to comply with new regulations published Monday by the central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Singapore’s biggest cryptocurrency ATM operator, Daenerys & Co., told Bloomberg Tuesday that it has ceased services to comply with the MAS request, adding:

MAS’s new guidelines regarding ATMs were an unexpected surprise.

The company operated five crypto ATMs, mostly located in malls around Singapore. The machines allow customers to buy and sell cryptocurrencies including bitcoin and ether using fiat currency. Daenerys told Reuters:

To comply with the sudden announcement, we have ceased to offer buy or sell services via our five ATMs while seeking further clarification from the MAS.

Another operator, Deodi Pte., also shut down its crypto ATM on Tuesday.

Both Daenerys and Deodi are among the companies that have applied to the MAS for a license to offer digital payment token (DPT) services. DPT is commonly known as cryptocurrency, the MAS has clarified. About 170 firms applied for a license but about 100 have either withdrawn their applications or have been rejected by the central bank.

The MAS issued “Guidelines to Discourage Cryptocurrency Trading by [the] General Public” Monday.

In its guidelines, the central bank said that it “has observed that some DPT service providers have been actively promoting their services through online and physical advertisements or through the provision of physical automated teller machines (ATM) in public areas.” The Singaporean central bank stressed:

This could encourage consumers to trade DPTs on impulse, without fully understanding the attendant risks.

The new guidelines state that “DPT service providers should not engage in marketing or advertising of DPT services” in public areas in the country, including through the “provision of physical ATMs.”

Singapore is not the only country cracking down on cryptocurrency advertising. This week, the U.K. government announced that it is tightening rules on crypto advertisements to ensure that they are clear and not misleading.