Malaysian Deputy Minister Urges State to Legalize Crypto

The Malaysian Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (KKMM) is backing the adoption of cryptocurrencies, calling for the government to legalize cryptos.

Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin, the deputy communications and multimedia minister, has urged Malaysian regulators to legalize certain cryptocurrency and non-fungible token (NFT) use cases. This is according to a report by the local news agency, Harian Metro, on March 21.

The deputy minister pointed out that these measures, once implemented, would support younger generations, following the growing popularity of the cryptocurrency industry among younger Malaysian citizens. Zahidi also said that the KKMM is currently exploring ways to get young people more involved in the industry. 

The deputy minister noted that any decisions around crypto regulation were in the hands of Malaysia’s financial regulators. For example, the Securities Commission of Malaysia and the central bank.

The ministry is however willing to bring this issue up because they believe that the crypto industry is the “business and financial program of the future, especially for young people now”, Zahidi said.

Furthermore, he added:

We hope the government can try to legalize this matter so that we can expand the participation of young people in cryptocurrencies and help them in terms of energy consumption and so on.

Some sources have even said that Zahidi is also proposing cryptocurrency to be adopted as legal tender in Malaysia. However, this has not been confirmed yet.

According to Malaysia’s finance minister, Bank Negara Malaysia is also working potentially to introduce a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and other blockchain-related developments.