Malaysia may legalise cryptos and NFTs soon to expand participation of youth in cryptocurrencies

• The Malaysian communications ministry says legalising NFTs will bring more support from younger audiences.
• Malaysian authorities have also cracked down on crypto mining in the past.
• The country’s financial regulators will have the final call on crypto-related regulations.

It seems Malaysia may soon join the host of countries that have regulated cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The country’s communications ministry has proposed that its government should legalise NFTs.

Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin, the deputy communications and multimedia minister of Malaysia, has urged regulators to legalise certain use cases of cryptos and NFTs, according to a report by Harian Metro, a local news agency.

According to Zahidi, legalising NFTs will bring more support from young people, adding that the crypto industry is growing amongst the younger generation. He also said that the communications ministry is exploring ways to increase participation from younger citizens of the country. However, he also said that any regulation on crypto will be upto the country’s financial regulators, which includes the securities regulator and the central bank.

“We hope the government can try to legalise 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,” Zahidi said, while speaking at the country’s parliament.



This is not the first time Malaysian officials have discussed regulating cryptos though. Earlier this month, the deputy finance minister of the country had said that cryptocurrencies aren’t suitable for payments. “Digital assets such as bitcoin and ethereum are not suitable to be used as a payment instrument … In general, digital assets are not a store of value and a good medium of exchange,” Yamani Hafez Musa, said, while speaking at the parliament.

The country has also been cracking down on crypto mining within its borders. The Malaysian Police had seized 1720 Bitcoin mining machines in December 2021, in an operation that was allegedly being used to steal electricity. The police had also steamrolled 1000 Bitcoin mining machines with a steamroller in July last year.

“A total of six people have been successfully charged under Section 379 of the Penal Code for electricity theft and have been fined up to RM8,000 and jailed for up to eight months,” the authorities said at the time.

To be sure, Malaysia isn’t the only country to regulate cryptocurrencies and NFTs. China has already pushed miners out of its borders, while India is on the verge of regulating digital assets as well. US President Joe Biden has also directed authorities in the country to come up with regulations, while also designing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for the country.

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