Malaysia’s Minister of Finance: The Central Bank has the Ultimate Power to Create a Nationally Backed Crypto
The Malaysian government which has been quite supportive of blockchain technology for a long time coming has recently made it known that the country’s central bank— Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), has the final say when it comes to introducing a new cryptocurrency. This was confirmed through a statement from the country’s Minister of Finance.
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM)
The country’s Minister of Finance, Lim Guan Eng, has recently made it known that the government of the country does not have the power to create a nationally backed crypto without the country’s central bank— Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), giving approval for it.
He made this known in a statement which reads:
“This is where I wish to advise all parties, no matter who they are, intending to issue bitcoins or cryptocurrency, that they must refer to Bank Negara which is the authority that will have the final say on this new form of currency,”
Lim also made it clear in a recent question session he had with the parliaments, that the government of the country is not against the creation of a new crypto, however, the existing law which gives the government power to create currencies will not be followed. He added that:
“Don’t do it without Bank Negara’s guidelines or directive on the matter to avoid doing something wrong and against the law,”
Harapan Coin Project
Contrary to Lim’s statements, regarding the need for the Bank Negara Malaysia(BNM), approval before launching a crypto project, a Malaysian government approved a crypto project, Harapan Coin, was launched recently.
Harapan Coin, which is regarded as the first political fundraising platform in the world to use blockchain technology has raised hundreds of U.S. dollars despite not reported to have received the approval of BNM. This project was launched by Khalid Samad, Malaysia’s Federal Territories Minister, and according to him, “the project a way of raising funds for Pakatan Harapan, Malaysia’s current ruling political party, ahead of next year’s elections.”
With this recent statements, is not clear whether the ruling party seek approval for Harapan Coin or acted alone.
