Malaysia not considering digital currency Illegal- Deputy finance minister

Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani, Malaysia deputy finance minister stated that the country is not considering any plan to effectively deem cryptocurrencies to be illegal amid conflicting reports about what the future may hold for Bitcoin.

That seems like a good news, although the actual regulation has yet to be presented to the world.

As a lot of countries contemplate Bitcoin regulation, one of two things is expected; either the government bans cryptocurrency altogether, or they allow it to thrive.

Deputy finance minister Johari, according to NewsBTC. said that “The government is fully aware of the need to strike a balance between public interest and integrity of the financial system, similar to any financial and investment schemes, there is a need to have proper regulation and supervision to ensure any risk associated with such schemes are effectively contained.”

The country wants to pursue every option for financial innovation. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can certainly play a big role in this process.

Malaysia is not a region most people associate with major cryptocurrency activity. That is not surprising whatsoever. The lack of clear Bitcoin regulation makes it difficult for consumers and businesses to embrace cryptocurrency.

The local central bank is actively working on regulation, according to the report.

This semi-positive approach to cryptocurrency regulation is somewhat surprising. After all, Asian countries are mainly leaning toward banning cryptocurrency activity altogether. Malaysia may reap some of the economic advantages of taking this approach. It will be interesting to see what the actual Bitcoin regulation will entail when it is made public, though. For now, there is still no official ETA on when these guidelines will be presented.