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Malaysian Government Still Deciding Whether or Not to Legalize Cryptocurrency

source-logo  ccn.com 13 January 2019 06:20, UTC
the Malay Mail. Samad said they are still not sure which direction to take in regards to legalizing cryptocurrency. He was quoted as saying:

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. Yes, I was involved in the launch of Harapan Coin. However, I was not appointed as finance minister. Instead, I became federal territories minister.

As you can see, these recent comments in regards to Malaysian cryptocurrency legalities are greyer than 50 Shades of Grey in black and white on a dull day. They are more unclear than Stevie Wonder circumnavigating the North Pole in a dingy in a continual fog.

Malaysia Getting Left Out in the Crypto Cold

Because of such indecision from the Malaysian government, they are lagging behind other financial powerhouses in SE-Asia. Although Thailand also took its time to draft a regulatory framework for its crypto sector, they are now powering ahead with the Thai SEC recently issuing more licenses to crypto-related businesses.

As Hong Kong and Singapore also push ahead with greater regularity measures, the best we can get from Malaysian officials when pushed on the subject is the same old familiar story that Samed told the local Malaysia media when he said:

As the matter is not under my jurisdiction, I cannot push too much.

To be fair on Samad, he is one of the main advocates of Malaysian cryptocurrency integration and previously tried to push both the Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the Bank Negara Malaysia to use the Harapan Coin for governmental transactions. But to no avail.

Featured image from Pixabay.

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