A report today from a Malaysian local media has revealed that the country’s government has not concluded whether to make cryptocurrency legal within its region.
According to New Straits Times, the Federal Territories Minister, Khalid Abdul Samad, made comments on the issue, stating that the current status of digital currencies in the country is still unclear and that they are neither legal or illegal.
Samad, who was involved in a soon-to-be-launched political cryptocurrency project dubbed Harapan Coin, also pointed that the matter was out of his jurisdiction he was only appointed as a Federal Territories Minister and not a finance minister.
“People have asked me if these (cryptocurrency and digital currency) currencies are legal or illegal. At the moment, the answer is neither legal nor illegal as the situation is still unclear. As the matter is not under my jurisdiction, I cannot push too much.”
In November, Lim Guan Eng, Malaysia’s finance minister reportedly stated that any company that wants to launch a cryptocurrency in the country must seek approval from the Central bank – Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM). This he said while responding to a question of whether Malaysian government will appoint a team to oversee cryptocurrencies to avoid any conflict with their national currency.
In December, there were reports that the country’s central bank and the financial authorities issued a joint press statement confirming that they were working on a cryptocurrency and ICO regulation.
While the Malaysian financial regulators are yet to come up a defined guideline for crypto assets, it is almost certain that a regulatory framework is underway.
Add Comment