Malaysia: government drags its feet on crypto legalisation

The Malaysian government remains undecided over legalising the use of cryptocurrencies in the country, New Straits Times reports.

“People have asked me if these currencies are legal or illegal. At the moment, the answer is neither legal nor illegal as the situation is still unclear,” says Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad.

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

Big blockchain buzz

The blockchain space will grow at a significant CAGR through to 2024, and Malaysia has bags of potential, according to a report by Million Insights.

Asia-Pacific is becoming a significant player, the research notes. Countries such as Malaysia, China and Singapore are heading up the market with increasing adoption of digital currencies and significant investment by big hitters eyeing various opportunities in the region. These include Chain, Circle Internet Financial., Digital Asset Holdings, Eric Industries, IBM, Linux Foundation, Post-Trade Distributed Ledger., R3CEV and Safello.