smart contracts in accordance with pre - agreed terms. the blockchain is suited for applications where it is important to know the histories of ownership but there is no trusted central party or reliance on a central party is inefficient or costly. take supply chain management for instance. blockchains can potentially provide the means for registering, certifying, and tracking the movement of goods across the supply chain, at low cost and low risk. or trade finance. there are already successful proofs - of - concept by banks that show how blockchains can make the trade finance process safer and more efficient. 2 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches one of the potentially strongest use cases of crypto tokens is to facilitate cross - border payments in traditional currencies. this is the challenge that singapore ’ s project ubin has set itself to solve : to use blockchain technology to enable entities across jurisdictions to make payments to one another : without intermediaries ; with greater speed and efficiency ; and at lower risk and cost. following two successful proofs - of - concept domestically, mas has entered a collaboration with the bank of canada to test and develop a cross - border solution using crypto tokens issued by the two central banks. but as with crypto tokens, there is a fair amount of hype around blockchains. the blockchain is not a panacea to the problems of inefficiency and cost that we face in many economic transactions and processes. it does not make sense to put everything on the blockchain. not all use cases being experimented on will succeed. now, the bad. the anonymity of crypto tokens has unfortunately made them well suited for facilitating illicit transactions. a significant portion of bitcoin transactions globally is suspected to be for illicit purposes. questions abound as to how sanctions lists, black lists, kyc or anti - money laundering controls apply in crypto token transactions. crypto tokens have also facilitated ransomware – one of the fastest growing cyber crimes. cyber criminals inject a malware into computers and restrict their access to files, often threatening permanent data destruction unless a ransom is paid – nearly always in the form of bitcoins which do not leave a trace. finally, the ugly. crypto tokens have sparked a speculative fever across the world, with a vicious cycle of astronomical prices drawing a growing number of investors sparking further exponential price increases. history has shown us repeatedly –

ravi menon : crypto tokens - the good, the bad, and the ugly speech by mr ravi menon, managing director of the monetary authority of singapore, at money20 / 20, singapore, 15 march 2018. * * * ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. and to all our foreign guests, welcome to singapore. this is a conference named after money. money has been with us for at least 5000 years. and over the last 300 years or so, we have come to accept money as being issued by central banks whose mission in life is to safeguard its value. now, along comes a new phenomenon – crypto money or currency or asset. the past year has seen explosive growth in the trading and use of these crypto assets. we have also seen a rollercoaster ride in their prices. bitcoin – the most well - known of the crypto currencies or assets – hit a high of nearly us $ 20, 000 in december last year. and then lost two - thirds of its value in just over a month. mas has been watching the crypto space with great interest. our views are still evolving but let me share with you the current state of our thinking and our evolving regulatory approach. i will use the more generic term “ crypto tokens ” rather than “ crypto currencies ” or “ crypto assets ”. crypto tokens began life as the medium of exchange within the blockchain ecosystem. but the token has now assumed a life of its own, outside the blockchain. are crypto tokens money? a common use case for crypto tokens is payment. but does that make them money? money – as we learnt in economics 101 – serves three functions : as a medium of exchange, a store of value, and a unit of account. no crypto token currently meets these three functions in sufficient measure to qualify as money. my colleagues on the financial stability board – agustin carstens and mark carney – have spoken at length on this subject recently, with erudition and eloquence. let me briefly echo some of the key points. with the possible exception of the dark web, crypto tokens are not widely accepted as a medium of exchange in any market, let alone across any variety of transactions payment transactions in crypto tokens are often slower and more expensive than conventional electronic transfers of funds. crypto tokens cannot be a store of value if their prices fluctuate so much