Malaysia to Limit Cash Transactions in 2020

[loafof]

We don't really tend to use cash that much these days anyways.. and for large transactions we don't currently have an option but to go through the banks (at least with people who are not familiar with bitcoin). Won't change much and tackle much of the core problems I think?

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[joniboini]

It could be a big problem for people who go around doing their daily business with hard cash as there is the cap of 25k RM. The only upside for such people is that it becomes much easier to transact big sums of money after depositing it in a bank and then sending it through the online payment method.

And how many are they? IIRC the 25k RM is for a single transaction[1]. I'm not sure most Malaysian needs to transact at least $6k usd for a single transaction each day.

Its quite easy for the government to monitor ALL of the transactions happening online with the use of a unified payment system model which is undoubtedly being developed for this purpose.  

That's true, but my point is how will they monitor the physical transactions. Are they going to install webcam everywhere? Or wiretap all their people's phone? It's easy to say you must not transact more than $100 in cash each day, but monitoring millions of people is not easy peasy.

[1] https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/malaysia-to-impose-cash-transaction-limit-of-rm25-000-in-2020-12072710

[Pamadar]

It's true that cash being used for illegal transactions and so does other forms of means of payment including bitcoin. If a government stated to implement a rule to prevent cash abuse, that's their right to do, furthermore, it's more convenient to transact fiat currency through bank service, who today always carries so much cash in a suitcase with them?

Practically speaking  it's best to hand-carry digital assets than bringing cash inside your wallet, if you can pay everything without any efforts of
bringing fiat is more convenient. It's one of those best decisions coming from the government.

Securities and full control can be done if this proposal will materialize and probably handled accordingly.

[posi]

Firstly, Malaysia is not the first country to make this statement and the last time i checked most of the country later don't proceed with the process but if the government actually push this through it will definitely boost the use of crypto currency there.

It's true that cash being used for illegal transactions and so does other forms of means of payment including bitcoin. If a government stated to implement a rule to prevent cash abuse, that's their right to do, furthermore, it's more convenient to transact fiat currency through bank service, who today always carries so much cash in a suitcase with them?

Are you by any chance from Malaysia? Cause you said bitcoin was also used for illegal transactions and all crypto-fiat exchange in Malaysia are centralized.

[Xxmodded]

Malaysia want to limited cash transaction in 2020, will be digital currency transaction like bitcoin and altcoin limit too or not? maybe get bad impact if digital currency transaction limited in Malaysia because many investor can't get much profit with higher investing, the investor always get much profit with investment by using big amount for investing.

[exstasie]

Indirectly as a tax monitoring tool, with non-cash transactions, the possibility of tax avoidance will also be smaller. Why? Non-cash transactions make more money deposited in banks than elsewhere. Thus, tax avoidance is increasingly difficult.

Capital controls may be part of the rationale too: Malaysia central bank governor wants option of capital controls

They want to pull cash out of circulation. It's too easy to smuggle out of the country and dump on the offshore forwards markets, which is exactly what the central bank is afraid of. They are becoming increasingly worried about a financial crisis and the associated effects on the Ringgit.

[alyssa85]

Firstly, Malaysia is not the first country to make this statement and the last time i checked most of the country later don't proceed with the process but if the government actually push this through it will definitely boost the use of crypto currency there.

Will it boost cryptocurrency use? Or the use of Visa and Mastercard (with nice fat fees for both of them)?

[lobat999]

I see you have a valid point yet I was wondering where did the Malaysian Government got this idea?

Is there a precedent about this policy which was previously implemented before by other Governments and proved to have been effective?

Or is this is just a test bed and experiment for the Malaysian policy makers which I assume they don't know yet what will be the consequences of it if ever it will be finally implemented?

According to the experience that has occurred, especially in Indonesia close to Malaysia, smuggling USD 100,000 is very easy. The mode is as follows:

The Cross Border Cash Carrying (CBCC) rule requires everyone to report if they carry money equivalent to Rp 100 million if they cross a border area.

Through one of the ports close to Singapore, money launderers can go back and forth five times a day from Singapore to Indonesia, they usually come in groups of 8-15 people. Even so often the customs and immigration officers know them. They did not come for a vacation but to exchange money at a money changer.

Singapore utilizes the conditions of the surrounding countries which are rife with criminal acts of corruption to increase the country's foreign exchange. Singapore has large denominations of currencies (SGD 1000 = USD 735) and (SGD 10,000 = USD 7350). Due to complaints and requests from neighboring countries to stop the use of the SGD 1000 & SGD 10,000 fractions, Singapore stopped printing the SGD 10,000 fractions but refused to withdraw the fractions from circulation.

In Indonesia alone, the Singapore dollar is a prima donna for corruptors, every time there is a catch operation, a Singapore dollar is always found. The discovery and concern over this problem arose after corruption by one of the tax officers (lower level) in Indonesia worth USD 21 million. He was sentenced to 29 years in prison for 3 legal cases.

If that is the case, then lets see if it will be effective enough in curbing financial crimes so that it will become a model for nations that are also facing the same problem.

Now, I wish Governments at the same time could also strengthen financial crimes enforcement thru their concerned agencies because I think such policy would go in vain if there is no cooperation among different enforcement agencies including cooperation among neighboring countries which is vital in combating financial crimes. Imho.

[Hippocrypto]

Malaysia want to limited cash transaction in 2020, will be digital currency transaction like bitcoin and altcoin limit too or not? maybe get bad impact if digital currency transaction limited in Malaysia because many investor can't get much profit with higher investing, the investor always get much profit with investment by using big amount for investing.

If they're limiting cash transactions in 2020, probably there's a good impact to cryptocurrency but if not, I don't think it will limit the transaction of digital currency. The serious point here, if both fiat and cryptocurrency would be both limited, crypto price also be affected. What's great for big investors who've put their money in crypto, this is their best time for them to save their digital asset while it was still cheap to buy.

[Google+]

Firstly, Malaysia is not the first country to make this statement and the last time i checked most of the country later don't proceed with the process but if the government actually push this through it will definitely boost the use of crypto currency there.

Will it boost cryptocurrency use? Or the use of Visa and Mastercard (with nice fat fees for both of them)?

I think they will try to use and implement cryptocurrency for all payments in their country so that they can provide information about using cryptocurrency can be the right method or not, I really hope cryptocurrency can be applied there and can be used by many countries so that it can increase the use cryptocurrency and can have a good effect on the exchange.

[Colt81]

It is exhilarating because if cash transaction will be limited in Malaysia there is a huge chance that bitcoin and cryptocurrencies will be recognized and became more popular because they will be focusing in online transaction or cashless, so there might be a chance that more people will be using bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that would result of increasing of it's prices.

[Doell]

I read the problem is solved by electronic money oh my god but more fees will come out for shipping ,unfair policies for residents who have little money because the interbank costs will swell up bank that will benefit again and again ,quite sad and to overcome this I am sure too citizens will switch to using crypto and a big adoption will occur

[X-ray]

I read the problem is solved by electronic money oh my god but more fees will come out for shipping ,unfair policies for residents who have little money because the interbank costs will swell up bank that will benefit again and again ,quite sad and to overcome this I am sure too citizens will switch to using crypto and a big adoption will occur

Crypto too will have unbearable fee once it become popular enough to be overcrowding its own network just like what happened to bitcoin and ethereum every price spikes which means a lot more activities than usual. Although we may find a way to overcome the blockchain limit regarding to this but I do find your statement makes sense since digital cash will charge quite of the fee once their phase of burning money or in otherword marketing to gain userbase ended.

[stompix]

This is doubtless the first time that a country is to implement such bizarre measure to counter the abuse of cash.

I seriously wonder in what reality the authors of such articles live or if they do spend more than one-minute thinking before publishing this kind of articles:
So you have a limit of 25 000 myr or 6 000 $.

Newsflash:
https://www.europe-consommateurs.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/eu-consommateurs/PDFs/PDF_EN/Limit_for_cash_payments_in_EU.pdf

France 3000 € for fiscal residents in France (15 000 € for the non residents acting as a consumer – 3000 € if they act as a trader).
Spain Since November 19th, 2012, the limit is 2500€ (for Spain residents) and 15 000€ (for non residents).
Bulgaria  Limit up to 10 000 leva (approximately 5112 €).
Belgium  The Belgian law from 29 March 2012 limits the cash payments from 15.000 EUR to 5.000 EUR since 16
April 2012. In January 2014, the limit will be reduced to 3.000 EUR
and more...

Such limits have been imposed in Europe for a decade yet the author has just heard of such thing.
Doubtless...lols!

I read the problem is solved by electronic money oh my god but more fees will come out for shipping ,unfair policies for residents who have little money

Citizens who have little money are not dealing with 6000$ in cash each day to be affected by this!

That's true, but my point is how will they monitor the physical transactions. Are they going to install webcam everywhere? Or wiretap all their people's phone? It's easy to say you must not transact more than $100 in cash each day, but monitoring millions of people is not easy peasy.

Do authorities have a hidden cam on every car when issuing speed tickets?
Are they wiretapping all drug addicts to find out when they have an ounce of meth on them?
Are they spying on all the people in the country 24/7 to find out who is avoiding taxes?

Nope, of course.
There will be nothing like this, they already know who is dealing with large amounts of cash, they know what activities they should check, they know who will try to avoid those limits. And once the law is in place you just have to raid those businesses and check their books.

Let's be real here, how many people are dealing with such an amount in cahs every day in that country?
6000$ a day is a huge number even by US and western Europe standards. We're talking about 2 million$ a year.

[wozzek23]

Every country is trying their best now to limit their cash transaction and not just Malaysia alone, and in my own country, I even think that the policy is too string that you will have no choice than to do your transaction digitally because the tax they placed on the amount of money you wish to withdraw and even deposit is much, so they want a situation that people will begin to use digital cash and as we are getting to the age where virtually all government want to make their cash digital so that there can be less printing of money.

They might gradually start getting to that stage also where they will be forced to create one single currency using the blockchain technology and that will sure be cryptocurrency, so there is not country that can still escape this cryptocurrency technology.

[el kaka22]

Just because they limit the cash transactions doesn't mean that it will be digital currency right away.

It would make a big difference and would send a lot of people into bitcoin world however there is still credit and bank cards (debit card) and credit card etc etc, nowadays banks mobile apps even use the QR code payments so forth which means before bitcoin becomes too big in Malaysia there is just one enemy down but 5 more to go. That is really all around the world if you ask me , yeah we do use cash in our countries right now for example but how much cash are we really using?

Do you really use cash (paper money) like you used to? I personally don't. I use my banks debit card and I personally use my mobile app for almost everything I spend my money on.

[mersal]

It is exhilarating because if cash transaction will be limited in Malaysia there is a huge chance that bitcoin and cryptocurrencies will be recognized and became more popular because they will be focusing in online transaction or cashless, so there might be a chance that more people will be using bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that would result of increasing of it's prices.

Most of the transactions were cashless or digital now a days for that we don't need cryptos,only very less percentage of total fiat money in the world is in physical form others were in just digital figures of banks database so that government didn't change anything to be honest.

[CarnagexD]

Indirectly as a tax monitoring tool, with non-cash transactions, the possibility of tax avoidance will also be smaller. Why? Non-cash transactions make more money deposited in banks than elsewhere. Thus, tax avoidance is increasingly difficult.

Capital controls may be part of the rationale too: Malaysia central bank governor wants option of capital controls

Monetary policy such as capital control is not that needed for the moment since Malaysia's currency is not at risk, not even on edge to weaken its value. Some Malaysian economist already spoke about this saying that it is "premature" to be an option for now which is totally true.

They want to pull cash out of circulation. It's too easy to smuggle out of the country and dump on the offshore forwards markets, which is exactly what the central bank is afraid of. They are becoming increasingly worried about a financial crisis and the associated effects on the Ringgit.

Financial crisis is unlikely to happen unless Ringgit decline significantly. Putting digital currency on your country is a big challenge knowing it is more volatile than fiat currency, even having a limit like 50% cash and 50% crypto, still Malaysia would not be able to fully regulate it and will face future problems that associates to it. And isn't cryptocurrency are easier to dump? If I were the governor I would really find an alternative solution if they really want to limit cash, everyone can adjust and concrete.

[kaya11]

(Image grabbed from https://www.busonlineticket.com/blog/petronas-twin-towers-the-landmark-of-kuala-lumpur)

The country is set to implement an unprecedented restriction on the use of cash.^[1] This is doubtless the first time that a country is to implement such bizarre measure to counter the abuse of cash. Somehow, this national policy is implying that cash, at least within the country, is being abused for various illegal activities.

While some business communities are against such drastic measure as it would certainly affect their day to day operation, an idea pops out that they could actually circumvent this policy by adopting the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.^[2] An ordinary household in Malaysia is said to spend around 8,000 Malaysian Ringgit (RM) per month, way below the 25,000 RM limit. But still, a lot are clamoring to increase the limit as the current proposed limit is way to low.

Would you care to share your thoughts on this? Will this really be a window for significant growth of Bitcoin or crypto adoption in this Southeast Asian country?

Sources:
[1]

• https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/malaysia-to-impose-cash-transaction-limit-of-rm25-000-in-2020-12072710
• https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/11/08/business-community-says-no-to-rm25k-limit
• https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2019/11/07/malaysia-to-impose-cash-transaction-limit-of-rm25000-next-year

[2] https://bitcoinist.com/bitcoin-usage-may-spike-following-cash-restrictions-in-malaysia/

It could give a positive effect on crypto space, those businessmen can't just move their huge sum of money in an instant if something bad is happening. It gives them fear-leading to huge dumping of the cash they've got leading the to other options such as buying stocks and other forms that can be traded by RM, now is the chance bitcoin should shine and be broadcasted on a place like this where crisis in the economy is present, they could make alternate decisions and therefore invest their money in bitcoin and other crypto, giving us more demand again.

[AbuBhakar]

It is exhilarating because if cash transaction will be limited in Malaysia there is a huge chance that bitcoin and cryptocurrencies will be recognized and became more popular because they will be focusing in online transaction or cashless, so there might be a chance that more people will be using bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that would result of increasing of it's prices.

Most of the transactions were cashless or digital now a days for that we don't need cryptos,only very less percentage of total fiat money in the world is in physical form others were in just digital figures of banks database so that government didn't change anything to be honest.

Mobile banking might be the intention of Malaysia but since some transaction in bank if like in my country is still laggy or have occurring maintenance then it's not gonna be effective and the vest way if we wanted a much easier and faster transactions is too use cryptocurrency if those store I used to buy stuffs accept crypto I'll be willingly pay via crypto.