A Malaysian Member of Parliament has urged the government to implement proper cryptocurrency regulations before undertaking the Harapan Coin (HRP) cryptocurrency project, local English-language news daily the Star reported Nov. 14. Launched by “a group of patriotic and concerned Malaysian citizens, within and outside of Malaysia,” Harapan Coin claims to be the world’s first political fundraising platform deploying cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. The project’s mission is to raise money for the opposition party of Malaysia. The coin’s creators suggest that HRP has the “potential to become an official currency.” Fahmi Fadzil, director of the People's Justice Party (PKR) of Malaysia …

The Ministry of Education (MoE) of Malaysia is establishing a University Consortium to combat degree fraud using blockchain, the ministry announced in a tweet Nov. 8. According to the ministry’s tweet, the system is designed to issue and verify the authenticity of university-issued degrees. The new government-backed consortium will initially be comprised of six public universities and their diploma-verifying system is set to operate using the NEM (XEM) blockchain. According to the ministry, the new system was developed by a team led by a professor from the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). According to a local media report, the idea …

The Securities Commission (SC) of Malaysia has ordered an immediate halt to all promotional activities for the recently-launched Lavidacoin (LVC) pending further review, according to a September 5 notice on the SC’s website. According to local news outlet The Star, Lavidacoin was created by Malaysian cosmetics mogul and beauty guru Datuk Seri Hasmiza Othman, aka Dato’ Vida. The beauty guru reportedly hoped to use an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) to raise as much as $1.5 billion to create an “entrepreneur-focused” online entertainment channel, an LVC payment gateway, and even a “non-profit” mosque, as outlined in the project’s white paper. The …

South Korean blockchain lab IncuBlock has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a Malaysian government advisory committee for blockchain tech development permissible under Sharia law, local news outlet IT World reported yesterday, June 18. Blockchain tech has previously been used in terms of tracking halal foods, as UK-based HALAL TRAIL has begun using blockchain to track livestock and fresh food from farm to table through the halal food chain. The committee, Majlis Perundingan Melayu (MPM), will work with both IncuBlock and MPM’s international partner, Global Cornerstone Group, on sharing knowledge and developing a blockchain platform and a decentralized application …

Malaysia’s central bank hinted it is planning to integrate Blockchain in its banking sector, its deputy governor revealing ongoing development work in a speech Thursday, March 22. Speaking at the Asian Banker Digital Finance Convention 2018 in Kuala Lumpur, Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) deputy governor Jessica Chew Cheng Lian announced that nine domestic banks had partnered to build a trade finance Blockchain project. “In the blockchain space, the industry in a number of jurisdictions has pooled resources to defray the cost of experimentation involved in developing scaleable [sic] use cases for the technology’s application,” she told the audience, stating: “In …

Cryptocurrency exchanges in Malaysia must now fully identify traders after new central bank anti-money laundering legislation came into effect Tuesday, Feb. 27. A copy of the legislation and official press release from the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) states that any exchanges offering crypto-to-fiat, fiat-to-crypto and even crypto-to-crypto trading must “identify the customer and verify that customer’s identity.” As Cointelegraph reported in November 2017, forecasting the regulations, BNM Governor Tan Sri Muhammad bin Ibrahim placed emphasis on the need to control potential criminal usage of digital currencies. “The advent of digital currencies as some have forecast will mark the beginning of …