Malaysia Curated

DeFi Intel Research Desk2026-07-14Asia

Is crypto legal in Malaysia? (2026)

Yes — cryptocurrency is legal in Malaysia. Current status: Legal — regulated as securities. Oversight sits with Securities Commission Malaysia (SC). Full details — governing law, licensing, tax and dated enforcement history — follow below (last reviewed 2026-07-14).

Framework: Capital Markets and Services (Prescription of Securities) (Digital Currency and Digital Token) Order 2019 + SC Guidelines on Digital Assets (SC-GL/1-2020, revised 19 August 2024) + Guidelines on Recognized Markets (revised, effective 20 May 2026).

The 2019 Prescription Order brought digital currencies and digital tokens within the definition of securities under the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007, making the Securities Commission Malaysia the primary regulator. Digital asset exchanges operate as Recognized Market Operators (RMO-DAX) under the SC's Guidelines on Recognized Markets, while the Guidelines on Digital Assets govern initial exchange offerings (IEOs) and digital asset custodians (DACs) — IEO operators must hold minimum paid-up capital of RM5 million and vet issuers, including for AML/CFT compliance. The SC revised the digital-asset guidelines on 19 August 2024 to tighten the IEO and custody regimes.

The framework is now in its second major iteration. After regulated DAX trading value hit RM13.9 billion in 2024, the SC ran Public Consultation Paper No. 3/2025 (30 June – 11 August 2025) proposing to liberalise token listings — removing the SC's direct-concurrence requirement for assets that pass minimum criteria (public security audits; at least one year traded on a FATF-compliant VASP) — while raising governance, client-asset segregation and financial-resilience standards. The resulting revised Guidelines on Recognized Markets took effect on 20 May 2026: streamlined product approvals in exchange for stricter operator accountability, stronger shareholding and management-proficiency requirements, and DAX membership of the Financial Markets Ombudsman Service during 2026. Regulated DAX trading value grew 23% to RM17.14 billion in 2025. On the monetary side, Bank Negara Malaysia launched its Digital Asset Innovation Hub in June 2025 and on 11 February 2026 onboarded three pilots — ringgit stablecoins for B2B settlement (Standard Chartered Malaysia with Capital A) and tokenised deposits for payments (Maybank; CIMB) — with BNM signalling fuller clarity on ringgit stablecoins and tokenised deposits by end-2026. Crypto remains legal to hold and trade but is not legal tender.

Tax treatment

Malaysia has no general capital-gains tax on crypto for individuals: gains that are capital in nature — buy, hold long-term, sell — are not taxable. But the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) taxes revenue gains: where activity amounts to a business (day trading, mining as a trade, operating an exchange), profits are assessed as income under the Income Tax Act 1967. LHDN's Guidelines on Tax Treatment of Digital Currency Transactions (first issued 2022; second edition December 2025) apply eight "badges of trade" — frequency, holding period, profit motive, organisation of activity and similar factors — to decide which side of the line a taxpayer falls on; there is no fixed trade-count threshold.

• Capital-gains rate (individual investors): 0% — capital gains on crypto are outside the income-tax net
• Active trading / business income: taxable under the ITA 1967 at normal individual or corporate rates
• Losses: deductible only for taxpayers whose crypto activity is itself a trade; sporadic disposal losses are not deductible
• Holding-period rule: no statutory threshold — holding period is one badge-of-trade factor among eight

Travel rule applicability

Status: AML regime in force; Malaysia-specific transfer-data threshold pending verification. Digital-asset businesses are reporting institutions under Malaysia's AML/CFT framework, with mandatory KYC, transaction monitoring and suspicious-transaction reporting supervised by the SC (with BNM oversight of money-laundering risk), and originator/beneficiary data-sharing obligations for virtual-asset transfers consistent with FATF Recommendation 16. DeFi Intel has not yet verified a published ringgit threshold for travel-rule data transmission and marks that detail pending.

Notable enforcement actions

• May 2023. SC orders Huobi Global to cease operations and disable its website and apps in Malaysia for operating a digital asset exchange without RMO registration.
• December 2024. SC takes enforcement action against Bybit — ordered on 11 December 2024 to disable its website, apps and digital platforms within 14 business days and cease serving Malaysian investors; Bybit and CEO Ben Zhou are placed on the Investor Alert List.
• May 2025. SC adds 32 unlicensed or clone entities to its Investor Alert List in a single update; the list of unauthorised operators passed 111 entries by June 2025.
• 2026. Alongside the revised DAX rules, the SC discloses administrative action against four unregistered digital asset exchanges and begins working with Google (from 14 April 2026) to stop unregistered DAXs advertising to Malaysians on social platforms.

Public licensed CASP list

Digital asset exchange (DAX) operators registered with the Securities Commission Malaysia as Recognized Market Operators — the complete current register:

• HATA Digital Sdn Bhd — Recognized Market Operator (digital asset exchange)
• Luno Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. — Recognized Market Operator (digital asset exchange)
• MX Global Sdn Bhd — Recognized Market Operator (digital asset exchange)
• SINEGY DAX Sdn Bhd — Recognized Market Operator (digital asset exchange)
• Kinetic DAX Sdn Bhd — Recognized Market Operator (digital asset exchange)

All 5 registered DAX operators (SC list updated 26 Jun 2026). Source: Securities Commission Malaysia — List of Registered Digital Asset Exchanges, as of July 2026.

Beyond exchanges, the SC's digital-asset registers cover two further categories: IEO operators — Kapital DX Sdn Bhd and Pitch Platforms Sdn Bhd (pitchIN), both registered in March 2022 — and digital asset custodians, where CoKeeps Sdn Bhd, Gambit Custody Sdn Bhd and Jada Platform Sdn Bhd have been regulated as DACs.

Comparison to neighbours

Compare Malaysia crypto regulation with three geographically adjacent jurisdictions:

Doing business in Malaysia — practical notes

Operating a crypto exchange for Malaysian residents requires Recognized Market Operator (DAX) registration with the SC — the register currently stands at the five operators listed above (an earlier version of this profile named Tokenize Xchange as licensed; it no longer appears on the SC register). Under the guidelines effective 20 May 2026, operators face higher financial-stability, shareholding and management-proficiency requirements, tighter client-asset segregation, and mandatory membership of the Financial Markets Ombudsman Service, in exchange for a faster listing path for qualifying tokens. Token fundraising must run through a registered IEO operator (RM5 million minimum capital) and third-party safekeeping through a registered digital asset custodian. Offshore platforms serving Malaysians without registration risk Huobi/Bybit-style cease orders, Investor Alert List placement and, since April 2026, suppression of their social-media advertising via the SC's cooperation with Google. Ringgit-pegged stablecoin issuance is not yet a licensed activity: BNM's Digital Asset Innovation Hub pilots (Standard Chartered/Capital A stablecoin; Maybank and CIMB tokenised deposits) are the only supervised route until BNM issues promised guidance by end-2026.

Methodology and sources

This profile was researched and updated by DeFi Intel's research desk on 2026-07-14 from the primary and secondary sources listed below. Claims that could not be verified against a source are omitted or marked pending — we do not republish unverified third-party datasets. Submit corrections and primary-source links to research@defi-intel.com.

Sources

• Securities Commission Malaysia — Guidelines on Digital Assets (SC-GL/1-2020, revised 19 Aug 2024)
• SC media release — Revised Guidelines on Recognized Markets for DAX (May 2026)
• Business Today — SC tightens DAX rules, speeds approvals (20 May 2026; RM17.14B 2025 trading value)
• Blockhead — SC Consultation Paper 3/2025 on the DAX framework
• SC media release — Enforcement action against Huobi Global (May 2023)
• SC media release — Enforcement action against Bybit (Dec 2024)
• BrokersView — SC Investor Alert List update flags 32 unlicensed entities (May 2025)
• SC media release — Two IEO operators registered (March 2022)
• Fintech News Malaysia — Regulated DAX, DAC and IEO entities (2026)
• LHDN — Guidelines on Tax Treatment of Digital Currency Transactions
• RinggitPlus — Crypto tax in Malaysia (badges of trade; Dec 2025 LHDN second edition)
• The Edge Malaysia — BNM onboards ringgit stablecoin and tokenised deposit pilots (11 Feb 2026)
• The Edge Malaysia — SC targets unregistered exchanges; Google ad cooperation (2026)