Malaysian Ministry proposes cryptocurrencies as legal tender?

[cheezcarls]

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-21/malaysian-ministry-proposes-legal-tender-of-crypto-currency

Okay now this is getting out of hand! After El Salvador being the first, to Honduras set to make BTC as legal tender soon, and now this???

This is just a proposal for now, so there’s no official word yet if it’s already official. You think this is a good idea for Malaysia to make Bitcoin as legal tender after some countries are following the footsteps of El Salvador?

What are your thoughts about this guys?

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[tyz]

Okay now this is getting out of hand! After El Salvador being the first, to Honduras set to make BTC as legal tender soon, and now this??

It is not only Malaysia, but also Mexico [1] and Ukraine (at least plans before the war) want to introduce Bitcoin as an official means of payment. There are certainly other countries that have recognized the advantages and just haven't made it public yet.


[1] https://www.cityam.com/mexico-being-lined-up-as-next-nation-for-full-bitcoin-adoption/

[romero121]

If this proposal gets signed, then Malaysia will be the first country in Asia to consider bitcoin as legal tender. Compared to many other Asian countries Malaysia have good userbase. This is positive sign on the Asian market. Earlier most of the Asian countries banned the usage of cryptocurrencies and some even made it a crime, and now slowly every country is accepting. Beyond restrictions people continue to use bitcoin and this proposal will make other countries consider of legalizing bitcoin.

[aoluain]

Much the same as El Salvador before its Bitcoin as legal tender move I know nothing
of Malaysia so I guess they can see a positive way forward for their economy by
following El Salvador's pioneering move.

I recon if this has already reached the public domain a lot of the ground work has already
been done by the relevant government officials and the feel it will get the green light.

[Lucius]

Something seems to have been lost in translation, as some use the term "legal tender" while others translate it as "legal transfer", which of course is not the same thing. If we take a closer look at who the proposal comes from (Communication Ministry), then it is enough to scratch under the surface and find out what the Minister of Finance thinks about it.

While Zahidi wants to go full speed ahead on crypto, the country's finance minister — you know, the person who would actually oversee regulations — is decidedly less bullish. Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said earlier this month that crypto is not a "good store of value and a medium of exchange" because of its volatility. That isn't exactly a resounding endorsement for the country turning to crypto as legal tender anytime soon, despite Zahidi's desire to assist the crypto-loving youth.

Besides, for those who don't know, Bitcoin doesn't have a good reputation in that country, because some used electricity for mining that they did not pay for.

Malaysia has recently run into problems with bitcoin mining in the country. Police in the country said bitcoin miners stole about $2 million in electricity during 2020 alone. Stealing power for bitcoin mining is already a prevalent problem in the country, where the practice is illegal.

[mk4]

Don't get your hopes up too much because this is pretty much just a proposal — whereas obviously there is no guarantee of it getting accepted in the end. Baby steps though, so it's still technically good news.

Funny how news such as this doesn't get the community hyped up as much as it used to back then though lol. If this was in 2017 we'd be up 10% almost instantly.

[molsewid]

Don't get your hopes up too much because this is pretty much just a proposal — whereas obviously there is no guarantee of it getting accepted in the end. Baby steps though, so it's still technically good news.

Funny how news such as this doesn't get the community hyped up as much as it used to back then though lol. If this was in 2017 we'd be up 10% almost instantly.

Today is far different from a year 2017, what I mean is people don't just easily trusting the news instead they are waiting for the approved resolution or law before they will going to believe it. Yes, I do remember wayback 2017 that this kind of news was been like a very good news that the market price easily affected and fluctuated but now it is totally different. Now, people are going to believe the shill or tweet of rich people like Elon Musk rather than this kind of news..

[Zilon]

It's still a proposal from the Malaysia's communication minister which is just a fraction of decision making in the entire country chances of the adoption still remain slim. It might be a good move if it finally gets implemented adding to the list of bitcoin legalized countries. But this shouldn't be a basis for investment because the news is only in the early phase. It's still a suggestion which can still be declined

[rat03gopoh]

The consideration of the Malaysian government is not easy, it will follow the population base which is predominantly Muslim. Reflecting on the nearest neighboring country, Indonesia, the ministry of religion has its own law, which is to agree that bitcoin can't be used as currency for Muslims.
Maybe the views of Malaysian religious leaders are different, but I don't expect more.

[fuguebtc]

Malaysia is a Southeast Asian country with a cryptocurrency ownership rate of 20%, ranking 2nd in the region after Vietnam, accounting for 28% of the population. Currently, bitcoin is also the most sought after and owned crypto in this country.
Deputy Minister Zahidi Zainul Abidin predicts crypto will be the financial industry in the future, so he wants the government to approve this proposal soon to attract young people to participate in crypto more to boost the economy of Malaysia.

[LFC_Bitcoin]

Sounds good to me. We have El Salvador & if you believe the rumours then soon Honduras also. Malaysia is a beautiful country, if they jump on board too it’ll be great. I really wouldn’t mind emigrating to Malaysia. 20 years from now 50% of the world will accept bitcoin as legal tender.

[Poker Player]

20 years from now 50% of the world will accept bitcoin as legal tender.

I was just thinking something similar.

I believe that an unstoppable race towards the massive use of Bitcoin has begun. In the previous cycle we had a boom of retail investors, in this we have started seeing the adoption by companies, and the beginning of the states considering it legal to tender. Surely there will be many states reluctant to consider Bitcoin as a legal tender because it is something they cannot control and because if they consider it so, they will lose money in taxes, but countries like El Salvador and the first to join the bandwagon is because they see benefits that exceed these points, such as saving a lot of money remittances fees and the advantage of being among the first to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender for the attraction of capital that it can bring.

[24Kt]

The consideration of the Malaysian government is not easy, it will follow the population base which is predominantly Muslim. Reflecting on the nearest neighboring country, Indonesia, the ministry of religion has its own law, which is to agree that bitcoin can't be used as currency for Muslims.
Maybe the views of Malaysian religious leaders are different, but I don't expect more.

This is what I am thinking here as well. Malaysia is more than 60% Islam in terms of religion. But anyway, maybe, their government officials have a different take on this. So wondering, is bitcoin going to be almost the same in context with their Malaysian Ringgit? Anyway, this proposal has not yet been approved so it may take years before they finally decide on this matter. We will see in the next couple of years maybe, how they will proceed on this proposal.

[cheezcarls]

Sounds good to me. We have El Salvador & if you believe the rumours then soon Honduras also. Malaysia is a beautiful country, if they jump on board too it’ll be great. I really wouldn’t mind emigrating to Malaysia. 20 years from now 50% of the world will accept bitcoin as legal tender.

How I wish that the Philippines will be one of the 50% in 20 years from now as we're one of the crypto-friendly countries in Southeast Asia. But that really depends on who will be the next president as elections is coming this May if he or she supports or advocates crypto (like the newly-elected South Korean president who is pro-Bitcoin).

And yes, I agree that Malaysia is beautiful. I've been there twice (2013 and 2019) where I'm exploring Kuala Lumpur, Batu Caves and other attractions. Although that this was just a proposal, but at least it's a small step towards adopting and welcoming Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in open arms.

[DdmrDdmr]

This is currently seemingly more of an idea than anything else. I tried to find something closer to the source of the information, and found these local articles:

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2022/03/21/comms-ministry-proposes-adopting-cryptocurrency-as-legal-tender
https://www.hmetro.com.my/mutakhir/2022/03/823331/k-komm-gesa-penggunaan-mata-wang-kripto-dibenarkan

The first one is in English, and indicates that the comment was originated as an answer to a supplementary question on the government’s stand on trading NFTs.

"We hope the government will allow and legalise this so that we can increase the youth’s uptake of cryptocurrencies," he said.

The "legalise this", according to the first of the articles is in the provided context of NFT platforms. There is also a non-quoted part of the article that references "increase the youth’s involvement in digital currencies as it is the future of finance".”

From the above, I don’t see the legal tender shine on the story thus so far.


The second link (in Malaysian) kind of points in the same direction of above, but I don’t fully trust a GT of the article to be absolutely accurate. Nevertheless, it doesn’t seem to reference the concept of legal tender either.


Let’s bear in mind that making cryptocurrency legal tender there is quite a leap from last year’s well known image:

(see https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysian-police-steamroll-bitcoin-machines

[qwertyup23]

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-21/malaysian-ministry-proposes-legal-tender-of-crypto-currency

Okay now this is getting out of hand! After El Salvador being the first, to Honduras set to make BTC as legal tender soon, and now this???

This is just a proposal for now, so there’s no official word yet if it’s already official. You think this is a good idea for Malaysia to make Bitcoin as legal tender after some countries are following the footsteps of El Salvador?

What are your thoughts about this guys?

Like what I mentioned to similar posts like these, the move that El Salvador did will definitely cause a chain reaction where other countries would soon follow this trend. It is just inevitable the dominance of cryptocurrencies in the market. Sooner and later, countries would start to adapt it into their finances to the point that they would slowly integrate it into their transactions.

The fact that the Malaysian Ministry proposed such idea speaks a lot about the future of cryptocurrencies in our payment and transactions. I just hope that more countries would soon follow this step as this is indeed the future of our payments.

[fzkto]

I don't know if it's true or fake, but I don't see what the big deal is. Gradually the whole world from Europe and Asia to South America is starting to accept bitcoin in one way or another, some legally, some not so much. Especially Malaysia has long been known for its loyal attitude to cryptocurrencies. Interestingly, in the last year, many countries have officially declared bitcoin as a means of payment.

[Yaunfitda]

Okay now this is getting out of hand! After El Salvador being the first, to Honduras set to make BTC as legal tender soon, and now this???

I don't think, that we should all be surprised that a lot of countries are making bitcoin legal tender. El Salvador has set precedent already, now it's time for some Asian countries to follow. And the thing is, many countries still developing nation could benefit from it.

What are your thoughts about this guys?

This is a welcoming news and again, there could be more crypto friendly nation that might go to this route and who knows, in the next 5-10 years, bitcoin will be over the globe, from Africa to Asia.

[TribalBob]

when a proposal is submitted only a hope is there, not a certainty, because this is just a positive discourse,
if it is true that malaysia will be the first asia state to legalize trading with btc, hopefully there will be an asian state that makes btc trade legal like malaysia

[verita1]

It would certainly be good news if the Malaysian Parliament approves bitcoin as legal tender in the country. Although I still remember how they destroyed some bitcoin mining equipment as DdmrDdmr has shared.

But giving an opinion about it according to Chainalysis 2021 Global Crypto Adoption Index. Malaysia occupies the ranking number 23 and very well the population can take the adoption. These statistics come as a result of various metrics and methodologies based on how we use bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, which I think our P2P activities are revealing.