Following a nine-month-long probationary period, Malaysia-based cryptocurrency trading firm, Tokenize Malaysia, has received full approval from local securities watchdog.
With the approval to operate a Digital Assets Exchange, the company’s cryptocurrency trading platform, Tokenize Xchange, became legally approved and regulated by the Securities Commission (SC) of Malaysia, local news outlet, SoyaCincau, reported on April 3. The exchange offers fiat-to-digital asset pairings.
Malaysian laws require that local cryptocurrency exchanges register with the SC, after which they have up to nine month to achieve compliance with the SC’s regulation standards.
Commenting on the development, Hong Qi Yu, CEO and CTO at Tokenize Malaysia, said:
“We are now able to go ‘live’ in Malaysia and it is perfect timing –- as we have received many interested enquiries from individuals aged 24 to 50 years old who are keen to invest in digital assets.”
The SC registered the firm — along with Luno Malaysia and Sinegy Technologies — last June. At the time, Luno stated that the aforementioned three exchanges were the only registered digital asset exchanges to operate in Malaysia.
The SC introduced the Capital Markets and Services (Prescription of Securities) (Digital Currency and Digital Token) Order 2019 on January 15, 2019. The regulation classifies digital currencies, tokens, and crypto-assets as securities, placing them under the Securities Commission’s authority.
Crypto regulations in other countries
While some countries undertake efforts to develop adequate cryptocurrency-related regulations, others are in no hurry to give digital assets the green light. Thus, after facing multiple delays, the adoption of Russia’s major cryptocurrency law will be postponed again, this time due to the coronavirus.
A pending bill may still inhibit cryptocurrencies from flourishing in India, with India’s parliament yet to rule on the "Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill" from 2019. If passed, the bill will introduce unique regulatory frameworks for virtual currencies, utility tokens, and commodity-backed tokens.