Over the last few months, countries in Asia have been extremely active in the digital asset industry. Starting with China’s vocal support for blockchain technology and the recent announcement by Thailand’s SEC to re-evaluate its crypto-regulations, it is fair to say that South-East Asia is picking up pace.
According to a recent announcement, Luno, a cryptocurrency exchange and wallet based in Malaysia, has now become the first organization to receive approval from the country’s Securities Commission [SC] as a recognized operator.
At press time, the Luno platform was active for customers to access crypto-assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
The exchange has had a long history in Malaysia after its first operation was set up back in 2015. The exchange was launched recently in October, and within the first 10 days, the organization facilitated the trade of crypto-assets worth over RM 2.5 million.
The announcement was welcomed by Marcus Swanepoel, CEO of Luno, who said,
“We are seeing a revolution in global financial services with the adoption and use of cryptocurrencies but this is not going to be an overnight change. Regulators like the Securities Commission, here in Malaysia, who work with new digital assets and blockchain technology are showing real leadership in the sector.”
The Securities Commission’s approval of the exchange is a crucial milestone as it clarifies the regulations under which the exchange needed to operate, while also providing greater transparency and protection of customers’ capital.
Previously in October, Malaysia’s finance ministry had revealed that the domestic and global adoption rates of digital assets were quite low. The Ministry had also released the Economic Outlook 2020 report, identifying key sectors that had taken steps to promote crypto adoption.
Over the past few months, Malaysia has been very pro-crypto, with its finance ministry going on to state that other global authorities should formulate a framework to tackle the necessary issues.
The aforementioned clearance rewarded by the SC to Luno is a positive result for the overall digital asset industry, and is a development which may persuade other nations’ regulators to take a closer look.
