Singapore Presidential Candidate who Called Bitcoin Risky Wins Election

Tharman Shanmugaratnam, previously the head of Singapore's main money authority, won the election to become the president with a big 70% vote.

On Sept. 2, reports said that Shanmugaratnam beat other candidates to become Singapore's new president. He will officially start his role on Sept. 14.

Before running for president, Shanmugaratnam left his important jobs in Singapore's government and its money authority, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). He was in charge of this authority from 2011 to 2023 and managed the country's money between 2007 and 2015. During his time, he saw some big financial companies face problems in 2022.

In 2021, as the head of MAS, he warned people that digital money or "crypto" is very unpredictable and risky. But in 2022, MAS allowed some big digital money companies, like Crypto.com, to work in Singapore.

As president, Shanmugaratnam will be Singapore's main representative for big events and meetings. He takes over from Halimah Yacob, who was the president since 2017.

After he left MAS, the money authority made new rules for a type of digital money called "stablecoins". In July, Singapore's top court said digital money is like regular money.

As Shanmugaratnam steps into the role of president, there are concerns for Singapore's future with cryptocurrency. His known skepticism towards digital currencies could mean challenging times ahead for the country's crypto industry.