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Malaysia's Communication Ministry wants to see crypto as legal tender
(Kitco News) Is Malaysia next to recognize crypto as legal tender? The country's Communications Ministry is asking the government to adopt cryptocurrencies as legal transfer.
The Malaysian Ministry of Communications and Multimedia wants to legalize specific uses of crypto and nonfungible tokens (NFT), and it is proposing that the government looks into this.
The ministry hopes that legalizing crypto would support and engage the country's youth.
"We hope the government can allow this," Communication deputy minister Zahidi Zainul Abidin said on Monday. "We are trying to see how we can legalize this so that we can develop youth participation in crypto and assist them."
Zahidi also pointed out that crypto oversight falls under Malaysia's central bank and Securities Commission umbrella.
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Earlier this month, Malaysia's Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said that crypto payments, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, remain illegal.
"In general, digital assets are not a good store of value and a medium of exchange. This is due to the fact that digital assets are vulnerable to volatile price fluctuations due to speculative investments, the risk of theft due to cyber threats and lack of scalability," he said.
However, the country's central bank is yet to announce its official position on Bitcoin.
For now, El Salvador remains the only country that has adopted Bitcoin as legal tender.
