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Malaysia will enforce a new regulation on digital asset, cryptocurrency exchanges and ICOs early 2019.
Malaysia is moving forward in the digital economy. The country’s minister of finance, Lim Guan Eng just announced that official regulations for digital asset, cryptocurrency exchanges as well as ICOs will be enforced by Q1 2019.
This is part of the country’s Securities Commission’s (SC) efforts to facilitate an alternative for fundraising avenues and new investment asset classes.
Despite the skepticism of certain parties, the minister believes that this is the right direction to go. Quoting what he said in his speech during the FinTech Conference 2018, “While some parties might still be skeptical of this space, there can be no doubt that we need appropriate regulations to be put in place and enforced to safeguard the interest of investors.”
He further explained that any parties interested in developing crypto exchanges or conducting ICOs must work within the framework set by the SC and the country’s central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia, which will be supervised by the Finance Ministry.
That said, Lim ensures the government’s full commitment to support “high potential and innovative micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs)”, by saying, “We are keen on the continued development of such alternative financing avenues for these businesses beyond the traditional channels of financing.”
According to Coinwire, earlier this month, a member of the Malaysian Parliament urged the government to suspend the approval of a state-backed digital currency until proper regulations are enforced.
“The anonymous nature of cryptocurrency may open us up to a number of issues and we need to wait for guidelines from [the country’s central bank] Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) in regard of cryptocurrency,” said Fahmi Fadzil, the director of People’s Justice Party (PKR).