Officials in the Malaysian state of Johor shut down two crypto operations which had stolen more than $600,000 worth of electricity over three years. According to a Sept. 1 report from local news site The Star, Malaysia’s Energy Commission, power utility firm Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), and local officials arrested individuals responsible for the theft of more than $600,000 in electricity used for crypto mining. The authorities raided two mining operations in the city of Iskandar Puteri. Nazlin Alim Sadikhi, a regional director with the country’s Energy Commission, said one of the crypto mining operations with 100 rigs had been …

Malaysian police arrested four cryptocurrency mining operators after discovering that they were stealing electricity from the state-owned power firm, Sarawak Energy Berhad, or SEB. According to Malay Mail, authorities spent two days cracking down on four shophouses, believed to be housing cryptocurrency mining centers. The shophouses were located in the cities of Jalan Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce, Jalan Pahlawan and Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman. According to the investigation, the thieves stole over $59,000 per month from the power company. The Electrical Inspectorate Unit, or EIU, from the Sarawak Ministry of Utilities, also participated in the operation. They provided additional details …

Top cryptocurrency exchange Binance was added to the Securities Commission Malaysia’s list of unauthorized entities earlier today. According to the regulator, the digital asset trading platform is “operating a recognized market without authorization from the SC”. Malayisan law requires cryptocurrency exchanges to register as Digital Assets Exchanges with the SC. After the initial filing, they get up to nine months to meet the SC’s regulation standards. So far, only three cryptocurrency platforms — Luno, Sinegy and Tokenize — have received full approval from the local watchdog. Notedly, in March Binance announced that it was going to test the South East …

Even though in most western countries today, matters related to religion and money have been independent of one another. However, in Islam, especially those following the Shariah code of ethics, the two are intertwined inextricably. Also, in the past, there have been serious efforts to introduce crypto within the world of Shariah-based cooperative finance, such as the Stellar Network and Halal Chain. By and large, this market is still quite nascent and not as mature as many from within the region would like it to be. In this regard, according to a landmark announcement made by the Securities Commission of …

In a landmark announcement, Securities Commission Malaysia’s Shariah Advisory Council declared that digital assets trading was permissible. The Malaysian Shariah Advisory Council is the authority that oversees the implementation of Islamic laws in the operation of Islamic Financial Institutions. Securities Commission chairman Datuk Syed Zaid Albar made the announcement during an online conference Invest Malaysia 2020 on July 7, stating: “The SC Shariah Advisory Council has resolved that in principle, it is permissible to invest and trade in digital currencies and tokens on registered digital asset exchanges.” A way forward for the Malaysian crypto space Kelvyn Chuah, the founder of …

Malaysian digital asset trading platform Tokenize Xchange announced that it will be deploying cryptocurrency market surveillance tools developed by the New York-based Solidus Labs. The firm says this will help the exchange achieve Wall Street-grade market surveillance standards. The solutions provided by Solidus Labs will use machine learning to read thousands of factors including trading behaviors and market conditions to detect activities that must be reviewed. This will purportedly keep a check on illegal trading activities such as wash-trading, spoofing, pump-and-dump, etc. The integration comes two months after Tokenize Xchange became one of the three Malaysian digital asset exchanges to …

As a sector, plastic cryptocurrency cards have had a bumpy ride. While for some they are the perfect way to spend those hard-stacked sats, it has evidently been a struggle for crypto companies to provide such a service. Wracked by regulation, supplier issues and the volatility of digital assets, crypto debit cards have had a rough start. Nonetheless, crypto debit card use is growing and is considered an important development for the growth in the adoption of crypto around the world. So, in which countries are most of the crypto cards available? Wirex Wirex is a London-based crypto debit card …

Malaysian police have arrested 14 Chinese men for their involvement in a Bitcoin (BTC), scam targeting investors in their home country. Assistant Commander, Dzulkhairi Mukhatar, stated that the arrests took place on April 18, following two-months of surveillance. All of the suspects are aged between 20 and 30, three of whom do not have “valid travel documents,” according to the officer. Malaysian police arrest crypto scammers targeting China The group impersonated wealthy investors and targeted victims through popular Chinese messaging applications, WeChat and QQ. “All of the suspects would then give a fake testimony to persuade the victim into investing, …

Following a nine-month-long probationary period, Malaysia-based cryptocurrency trading firm, Tokenize Malaysia, has received full approval from local securities watchdog. With the approval to operate a Digital Assets Exchange, the company’s cryptocurrency trading platform, Tokenize Xchange, became legally approved and regulated by the Securities Commission (SC) of Malaysia, local news outlet, SoyaCincau, reported on April 3. The exchange offers fiat-to-digital asset pairings. Malaysian laws require that local cryptocurrency exchanges register with the SC, after which they have up to nine month to achieve compliance with the SC’s regulation standards. Commenting on the development, Hong Qi Yu, CEO and CTO at Tokenize …

Following the US SEC’s investor alert against Initial Exchange Offerings (IEO’s), Malaysia’s regulator has published a regulatory guide requiring token offerings in the country be attached to exchanges. A breakdown of Malaysia IEOs A report from Malaysia’s Securities Commission (SC) makes clear that digital tokens are to be used only for goods and services and within strict guidelines, which will take effect late 2020. Issuing digital tokens in the country without SC approval is illegal. The platforms themselves bear responsibility for vetting issuers and approving token features. The minimum paid-up capital is 5 million Malaysian ringgit ($1,227,000). Operators looking to …

Iran’s President has proposed to create a Muslim cryptocurrency as one of a number of means to confront the economic dominance of the United States. Speaking at an Islamic conference in Malaysia on Dec. 19, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called Muslim nations to strengthen financial and trade cooperation and to cut their reliance on U.S. dollar, according to a report by The Associated Press (AP). New Muslim cryptocurrency to confront “U.S. economic hegemony” As Rouhani argued that U.S. economic sanctions are the “main tools of domineering hegemony and bullying” of other nations. Rouhani put forward the establishment of a special …

Malaysia is planning to impose a $6,000 limit on cash transactions in 2020, according to a deputy governor at the country’s central bank. The new restrictions aim to prevent the use of cash in illicit activities, and won’t affect regulated financial institutions or other entities transacting for humanitarian aid purposes. The average Malaysian household spends $1,900 per month Abdul Rasheed, the deputy governor in question who works for Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), claimed that the measures will apply to all transactions involving physical cash, including payments for goods and services, reports local English-language newspaper The Star. The limit of 25,000 …