Malaysia explores the possibility of a crypto policy

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that the government was creating a draft policy to govern cryptocurrencies within the South Eastern Asian country. The prime minister hinted that the country may eventually adopt cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

Ibrahim also reported that he had discussions with Abu Dhabi’s government and Binance’s founder to explore the idea’s implementation.

“We have talked about digital transformation, data centers, and artificial intelligence (AI). The demands we face now force us to consider major changes.” said the Prime Minister.

The prime minister emphasized that digital evolution was happening quickly worldwide and that the government needed to be equally fast. He added that the Malaysian government should not be left behind in the traditional financial system.

Malaysian Prime Minister hints at a crypto policy within the country

Anwar mentioned that Abu Dhabi’s policymakers were ready to cooperate with Malaysia to help the country develop a crypto regulation approach. He noted that the old business model must be abandoned and the new digital finance policy adopted.

The Prime minister added that once the policy was in place, Malaysian authorities, such as the Malaysian Securities Commission and the Treasury, would need to conduct further comprehensive studies to address issues that may arise.

He added that the country’s relevant authorities needed to be trained to develop competency and engage players in the implementation process.

The announcement comes a few weeks after the Malaysian Securities Commission ordered Bybit to cease operations in the Asian country. The Malaysian SEC accused the exchange of running an unregistered digital asset exchange.

On December 23, 2024, the agency also added Atomic Wallet to its investor alert list of firms restricted from operating in the state.