Hello! My name is Ilia Ilinskii...read about us

Country overview

#44

Malaysia

Country stats

Rating Points

200

This indicator describes the overall rating of a given jurisdiction on several parameters according to cryptocurrency operations - market volume, crypto regulation, business climate, taxation framework.

Crypto Penetration

2.9%

Estimated percentage of crypto users out of the country's total population based on public data.

Legal Entities

Number of crypto companies registered in the country based on regulator data if available or other types of public data.

Regulation Points

100

An overall assessment of the granularity of crypto regulation in a given country. A high score is also given to countries where cryptocurrency transactions are highly regulated.

Amount of crypto users

971 500

Total amount of crypto users out of the country's total population based on public data.

Taxation points

This figure, according to our analysts' calculations, indicates the overall level of tax burden for cryptocurrency transactions in a given country. The higher the indicator, the lower the burden.

Market volume points

131.3

A rough estimate of this jurisdiction's retail crypto market relative to the rest of the world. The higher the indicator, the higher the market potential.

Status of crypto

Legally allowed

General status of cryptocurrency regulation in this jurisdiction.

Crypto payments

No info

The legal status of cryptocurrency payments for goods and services in a given country based on information from regulators, public data and feedback from our community.

Security Level

Moderate danger

The overall level of security in a given country based on open data.

Crypto Salaries

No info

The legal status of cryptocurrency salaries to employers in a given country based on information from regulators, public data and feedback from our community.

Business Climate

Difficult

Overall assessment of the friendliness of this country for crypto-business. This indicator takes into account the cost of obtaining a license and the attitude towards crypto entities in the country.

Stablecoin Regulation

None

This indicator is evaluating the regulation of stablecoins in a given country. Complex regulation means that it is possible to issue steiblcoins and obtain a license for this activity. Basic regulation means that the issuance of stablecoins is possible, but not all legal aspects are defined in the law. Standard regulation means that there is a legal practice of steylcoin circulation in a given country.

Bad Factors

This section describes the unfavorable economic factors for crypto-business in a given country. These are countries that are under sanctions or on the FATF grey list and other factors.

Types of licenses

Crypto-to-crypto

This license type allows VASP to provide legal exchange from one cryptocurrency to another.

Crypto-to-fiat

This type of license regulates the exchange from cryptocurrency to fiat.

Wallet/Custody

This country has a legal licensing procedure for companies that store cryptocurrency - crypto wallet providers and custodians.

Good

Medium

Bad

intro

Malaysia is one of the central business hubs in Southeast Asia. Many international companies operate here, and there is a large domestic market. The regulatory system for cryptocurrencies in the country is quite developed and legal. However, it is getting stricter. Among other things, Binance experienced operational problems here.

Security level

Malaysia has a Moderate danger security level according to our rating. Jurisdiction has 48.4 points (from 100) for safety level in Numbeo crime rating (1). The h omicide level (2) is 0.7 per 100,000 inhabitants a year.

Crypto Payments

Cryptocurrency isn’t a legal tender (3) in Malaysia; cryptocurrency is not illegal and is regulated by the Securities Commission through the Capital Markets and Services (Prescription of Securities) (Digital Currency and Digital Token) Order 2019 ("Order 2019"), under Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 ("CMSA 2007").

Crypto Salaries

Since crypto payments are banned, crypto salaries are also illegal. However, currently, we don't have a link to the confirmation document.

Legal

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC Malaysia) is the country's primary crypto regulator, which provides crypto exchange licenses. The l ist of operating (4) companies includes only 5: LUNO, MX, Sinegy, and Tokenize Technology.

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC Malaysia) has added Huobi Global to its Investor Alert List, and the regulator says other entities are operating in the country without official registration.

In the notice (5) SC Malaysia issued via Twitter, the regulator stated that Huobi has been operating a digital asset exchange (DAX) (6) without being registered. The regulator also warned investors of the risks of interacting with the exchange, which includes their inability to seek legal redress in case of monetary losses.

Certain government factions in Malaysia have been working towards making the country a more digital assets-friendly jurisdiction. In March, Bloomberg reported (7) that the Ministry for Communications and Multimedia proposed recognizing digital assets as legal tender.

The registration of RMOs is facilitated (8) through the Guidelines on Recognized Markets issued by the SC ("RMO Guidelines"). Under the RMO Guidelines, DAX is defined as an electronic platform that facilitates digital asset trading.

As for February 2024 there are 6 crypto exchanges in the SC Malaysia list: LUNO, MX, Sinegy, Tokenize Technology and Torum. Also at 30th of December SC has ordered Bybit to stop operations in the country. Probably the country is going to update regulations. According to CZ, he is discussing this topic with local authorities. This was confirmed by local Prime Minister Datuk Anwar in January 2025.

Taxation

Tax name	Index
PIT tax Min	0
PIT tax Max	30
Corporate tax (CIT)	24
Min Individual CGT (for crypto)	0
Max Individual CGT (for crypto)	0
Wealth tax Min	0
Wealth tax Max	0
Mining tax
TDS tax

PIT

The following rates apply to resident individual taxpayers for the year of assessment 2023 onwards: 1%-30% by PWC(9).

CIT

Headline CIT rate is 24% based on PWC(10).

CGT

Generally, gains on capital assets are not subject to tax, except for profits arising from the disposal of real property in Malaysia, which is subject to RPGT (up to 30%), according to PWC(10).

Malaysia is also a crypto tax-free (11) country. Because cryptocurrencies are not qualified as capital assets nor legal tender by Malaysian authorities - crypto transactions are tax-free for individual investors.

Links

1)Crime Index by Country 2023 Mid-Year

2)List of countries by intentional homicide rate

3)Malaysia Cryptocurrency Regulation - Is it Legal? Article

4)LIST OF REGISTERED DIGITAL ASSET EXCHANGES. Article

5) Huobi Global the SC’s Investor Alert List has been added for operating a digital asset exchange (DAX) in Malaysia without being registered with the SC. Twitter (X)

6)DIGITAL CURRENCY EXCHANGES. Article

7)Malaysia Should Adopt Crypto as Legal Tender, Ministry Says. Article

8)Malaysia: Regulation Of Digital Asset Offering And Trading In Malaysia. Article

9)Individual - Taxes on personal income. PWC

10)Overview. PWC

11)Crypto Tax-Free Countries 2023. PWC

Last update: January 2025

Articles

article

The State of Crypto Regulation in 2023

We tell you about the features of crypto regulation in the world in 2023

By: Ilia Ilinskii

research

Global Crypto Card Overview

Selecting good crypto card is important topic for every crypto user. In this research we’ve collected most existing crypto cards in the world

By: Ilia Ilinskii

review

US Lawmakers Unite Against SEC as Crypto Regulations Tighten Globally

Overview of crypto regulation news in Spring 2024

By: Ilia Ilinskii

intro

Security level

Crypto Payments

Crypto Salaries

Since crypto payments are banned, crypto salaries are also illegal. However, currently, we don't have a link to the confirmation document.

Legal

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC Malaysia) has added Huobi Global to its Investor Alert List, and the regulator says other entities are operating in the country without official registration.

Taxation

Tax name	Index
PIT tax Min	0
PIT tax Max	30
Corporate tax (CIT)	24
Min Individual CGT (for crypto)	0
Max Individual CGT (for crypto)	0
Wealth tax Min	0
Wealth tax Max	0
Mining tax
TDS tax

PIT

The following rates apply to resident individual taxpayers for the year of assessment 2023 onwards: 1%-30% by PWC(9).

CIT

Headline CIT rate is 24% based on PWC(10).

CGT

Generally, gains on capital assets are not subject to tax, except for profits arising from the disposal of real property in Malaysia, which is subject to RPGT (up to 30%), according to PWC(10).

Links

1)Crime Index by Country 2023 Mid-Year

2)List of countries by intentional homicide rate

3)Malaysia Cryptocurrency Regulation - Is it Legal? Article

4)LIST OF REGISTERED DIGITAL ASSET EXCHANGES. Article

5) Huobi Global the SC’s Investor Alert List has been added for operating a digital asset exchange (DAX) in Malaysia without being registered with the SC. Twitter (X)

6)DIGITAL CURRENCY EXCHANGES. Article

7)Malaysia Should Adopt Crypto as Legal Tender, Ministry Says. Article

8)Malaysia: Regulation Of Digital Asset Offering And Trading In Malaysia. Article

9)Individual - Taxes on personal income. PWC

10)Overview. PWC

11)Crypto Tax-Free Countries 2023. PWC

Last update: January 2025