Singapore Bank Chief Warns On Fintech Hype, Says Bitcoin Bubble Will Collapse

Singapore has forewarned of a fintech bubble collapse and said investors should be wary of hype.

The head of ‘fintech friendly’ Singapore’s central bank has warned Blockchain and other fintech spheres are suffering from “hype.”

In comments to Bloomberg Monday, Ravi Menon said that investors should also be wary of p2p lending platforms and cryptocurrencies.

“Obviously as with any technological change or innovation, there will be a fair amount of hype built around it - and I think this time is no different; there is excessive hype around some aspects,” he said.

Fintech is a major focus of monetary and regulatory policy in Singapore, with authorities’ international partnerships on education and knowledge-sharing, as well as providing a supportive environment for Blockchain, regularly making the headlines.

Menon’s cautionary tone thus initially seems at odds with progress, yet it comes at a time when jurisdictions around the world are increasingly seeking to formalize those same markets.

In order to dispel the kind of genuine hype seen in ICOs this year, warnings are coming from various sources about a second dotcom-style bubble.

"I do see some collapse of the bubble in the fintech space," Menon continued. "Some business models, some applications of technology are clearly overstretched.”

“At some point in the current euphoria about fintech, there will be some reckoning of that sort. But I do hope that it does not sweep away everything as it did in 2001, sweep away the good as well as the hype.”