Malaysia's regulated crypto era begins today. The Securities Commission has announced the registration of three Recognized Market Operators to establish and operate Digital Asset Exchanges (DAX):
- Luno Malaysia Sdn Bhd
- SINEGY Technologies (M) Sdn Bhd
- Tokenize Technology (M) Sdn Bhd
A demanding cut
The three were chosen from 22 applicants — the remaining 19 were unsuccessful and must cease all activities immediately and return all monies and assets to investors. Operating an unregistered exchange is now punishable by fine, imprisonment, or both.
The approvals are conditional: each operator has up to nine months to fully comply with all regulatory requirements before receiving full approval. Between a global brand (Luno), a homegrown Penang exchange (SINEGY) and a Malaysian-founded regional player (Tokenize), the first cohort is a healthy mix.
What happened next
Updated as the approvals completed: Luno became the first DAX to receive full approval on 22 October 2019, relaunching trading in Malaysia and clocking RM2.5 million in digital assets traded within its first ten days back. SINEGY's BTC/MYR and ETH/MYR marketplace went live on 1 April 2020, and Tokenize Xchange announced its own full approval and go-live the same week — completing the first licensed cohort.
For a market that spent 2018 in regulatory limbo, this is the milestone that matters: Malaysians can now trade digital assets on platforms answerable to the SC.
References
- Securities Commission Malaysia — "SC Registers Three Digital Asset Exchanges" (4 Jun 2019)
- Fintech News Malaysia — "3 Cryptocurrency Exchanges Granted Conditional Approval" (4 Jun 2019)
- SoyaCincau — "Luno is Malaysia's first fully approved cryptocurrency exchange" (22 Oct 2019)
- Fintech News Malaysia — "SINEGY Receives Full Approval" (1 Apr 2020)
- Digital News Asia — "Tokenize Xchange Granted Full Approval by Securities Commission" (Apr 2020)