Malaysia Will Not Adopt Bitcoin as Legal Tender, Says Deputy Finance Minister

The country’s Deputy Financial Minister has refuted the recent speculations that bitcoin and other digital assets could be legalized in Malaysia. Instead, Mohd Shahar Abdullah said the nation will focus on issuing a central bank digital currency.

• CryptoPotato reported earlier this week that Malaysia’s Deputy Minister of the country’s Communication Ministry proposed that the nation should follow the footsteps of El Salvador and legalize bitcoin.
• This would have made it only the second country in the world to take such steps.
• However, Bloomberg reported on March 24 that Malaysia’s Deputy Finance Minister said there’re no such plans at the moment.

“Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are not suitable for use as a payment instrument due to various limitations,” said the Deputy Minister without providing details on those “various limitations.”

• The politician outlined a different path Malaysia has taken – via a central bank digital currency.

“The growing technology and payment landscape have prompted the Bank Negara Malaysia to actively assess the potential of bank’s digital currency central (or CBDC).”