malaysia

In February this year, several Chinese citizens were raided by the police at a rented villa in Country Heights, Kajang, Malaysia. The police claimed to suspect that the Chinese citizens were involved in fraud, and subsequently, the Chinese citizens were forced to transfer about $50,000 (approximately 200,000 ringgit) in USDT. The police later arrested 12 officers involved in the case and removed them from frontline duties, but the investigation still awaits technical reports and digital evidence results, and there has been no breakthrough to date.Lawyer Charles, representing eight Chinese victims, stated that the investigation is progressing too slowly. Since the arrest of the 12 involved police officers, there has been no further information, raising suspicions of internal interference attempting to suppress the case. He warned that if there is internal protection, he will file a complaint with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

The Malaysian digital asset trading platform Hata has completed an $8 million Series A financing round, led by Bybit, with participation from several global family offices. Hata holds dual licenses from the Malaysian Securities Commission and the Labuan Financial Services Authority, allowing it to provide digital asset trading and custody services locally. The funds from the financing will be used to enhance liquidity, expand the user base, and develop more products.

On April 12, ARCB officially held the Asia Launch Ceremony in Malaysia, gathering over a hundred representatives from government agencies, the business sector, the education sector, and youth students to witness the event, marking its official entry into a new phase of expansion in Asia.During the event, ARCB signed strategic cooperation memorandums with Kanzun Ventures and Rakyat Trustee, and the three parties will engage in deep cooperation in areas such as capital synergy, financial product development, and the construction of sustainable development mechanisms.At the same time, ARCB also completed the signing of a tripartite cooperation agreement with ReSkills and JLM AI Agent, focusing on education and the cultivation of technical talent. In addition, ARCB allocated 1.2 million USD in special funds to UiTM University to promote the JLM AI Agent artificial intelligence project into the campus system.

According to market news, Bank Negara Malaysia announced that it will test a practical application plan involving the ringgit stablecoin and tokenized deposits in 2026.It stated that the testing will allow the central bank to assess the impact of stablecoins and tokenized deposits on monetary and financial stability, and provide a basis for policy direction in these specific areas. Clearer guidance on the use of the ringgit stablecoin and tokenized deposits is expected to be provided by the end of 2026.

According to reports from Cover News citing Malaysian media, recently, 7 local Malaysian police officers, along with 5 men, broke into a residence in Kajang, Selangor late at night, intimidating and extorting Chinese tourists, ultimately forcing the victims to transfer approximately 200,000 ringgit (about 352,000 yuan) via cryptocurrency. After the police launched an investigation, they acted swiftly and successfully arrested the involved officers.Sources revealed that the incident occurred around 11 PM at a residence in Country Heights, Kajang. That night, 8 Chinese tourists were resting inside when they were suddenly confronted by 12 men who broke in, some of whom were wearing reflective police vests and displayed police identification, claiming to be officers. The police have classified this case as armed robbery and have initiated an investigation under Section 395 of the Penal Code. Meanwhile, the police will apply for a remand order from the local court to assist in further investigations.

The Malaysian Crown Prince's telecom company Bullish Aim announced on Tuesday the launch of RMJDT, a stablecoin pegged to the Malaysian Ringgit, targeting the cross-border payment market in the Asia-Pacific region. RMJDT will be issued on the Layer 1 blockchain Zetrix.Bullish Aim will establish a Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) company and allocate an initial treasury asset of 500 million Ringgit (approximately 121.5 million USD) in Zetrix (ZETRIX) tokens.

The eldest son of the King of Malaysia, Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, Ismail Ibrahim, announced the launch of a stablecoin named RMJDT, which is pegged to the Malaysian Ringgit.According to informed sources, this stablecoin will be backed by local currency cash deposits and short-term Malaysian government bonds.

The Malaysian authorities have established a joint task force to utilize high-tech drones and ground police to shut down nearly 14,000 illegal Bitcoin mining machines. The state-owned electricity company Tenaga Nasional (TNB) reported that these illegal miners have stolen $1.1 billion worth of electricity from the national grid since 2020.Authorities are using drones to search for heat signatures, while ground police use sensors to detect illegal electricity usage. Deputy Minister of Energy Transition and Water Services Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir stated that allowing such activities not only involves theft but also poses a challenge to the national grid system.

The Malaysian authorities are actively cracking down on illegal Bitcoin mining activities, which are reported to have caused up to $1 billion in electricity theft losses.Law enforcement agencies are employing a strategy that combines high-tech and traditional methods, including using drones to detect abnormal heat sources, handheld sensors to detect irregular electricity usage, and responding to residents' reports of strange noises. It has been reported that some illegal miners even use natural bird calls to mask the noise of mining equipment. This crackdown has evolved into a "cat-and-mouse game," involving raids on shops and abandoned houses. The Malaysian government will continue to strengthen regulations to curb this increasingly serious problem.

According to Reuters, Malaysia's national power company TNB stated that illegal electricity usage for cryptocurrency mining has caused losses of approximately $1.1 billion (about 4.6 billion ringgit) from 2020 to August this year.The authorities disclosed that a total of 13,827 locations suspected of electricity theft were seized, with related activities involving tampering with electricity meters and illegal connections, which are violations under the Electricity Supply Act. TNB has collaborated with the police, communication regulators, and anti-corruption agencies to carry out actions, seizing Bitcoin mining machines and establishing a database of property owners and tenants involved in the case for monitoring and enforcement; at the same time, smart meters have been deployed at distribution substations to detect abnormal energy usage in real-time.

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has proposed that, starting in 2026, licensed cryptocurrency exchanges will be able to independently approve token listings without needing to obtain regulatory approval for each one. This move aims to modernize Malaysia's digital asset market, expand investor access, and provide exchanges with greater operational flexibility.Under the new framework, exchanges will be responsible for assessing the compliance of tokens and adhering to higher governance, security, and transparency requirements to ensure investor protection. This reform is expected to shorten the token listing time, increase the variety of assets available to investors, and promote Malaysia as a digital asset hub in Southeast Asia.

According to Cointelegraph, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has announced a three-year roadmap to pilot asset tokenization projects within the financial system.The initiative will launch multiple proof of concept (POC) and actual pilot projects through the Digital Asset Innovation Hub (DAIH) established earlier this year.The core content of the roadmap includes the establishment of the Asset Tokenization Industry Working Group (IWG), co-led by the central bank and the Securities Commission (SC), responsible for promoting industry exploration, knowledge sharing, and regulatory coordination. The first batch of pilots will focus on applications with clear economic value, such as supply chain financing to expand credit access for SMEs, tokenized liquidity management to enhance settlement efficiency, and compliant applications for automatically executable Islamic finance transactions.BNM also plans to explore tokenized deposits and stablecoin schemes denominated in ringgit to ensure monetary consistency and improve digital settlement efficiency, and will further investigate integration with wholesale central bank digital currencies (CBDC). The project aims to modernize financial infrastructure in sync with Asian regulators such as the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).

According to Ledger Insights, Bank Negara Malaysia has launched a three-year exploration program for the tokenization of real-world assets and established a Digital Asset Innovation Center and an industry working group to seek feedback on potential use cases ranging from supply chain finance to Islamic financial products.The central bank's latest report outlines a phased implementation plan: a proof of concept and pilot will take place in 2026, followed by an expansion of the trial in 2027. The bank invites the industry to submit use case feedback by March 1, 2026, while also clearly defining which cases meet the experimental criteria.

ChainCatcher news, according to TheDigitalBanker, Dubai's financial super app Fasset has announced that it has obtained a temporary regulatory license in Malaysia and plans to launch a stablecoin-driven digital bank that complies with Islamic law.It is reported that Fasset also plans to issue a crypto debit card for everyday spending and will launch "Own," an Ethereum Layer 2 platform built on Arbitrum, for settling real-world assets.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, JPMorgan will pay 1.4 billion ringgit (approximately 330 million USD) to Malaysia to resolve all existing and potential claims related to the country's sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.According to an email statement on Friday, under this settlement agreement, the bank will make the payment to the Malaysian Asset Recovery Trust Account "without admitting any liability."The agreement states that this arrangement "resolves all existing and potential claims and binds both parties not to make any future claims or lawsuits regarding 1MDB."Meanwhile, the Swiss Federal Prosecutor announced that JPMorgan's Swiss branch was fined 3 million Swiss francs (approximately 3.7 million USD) for assisting in the laundering of funds misappropriated from 1MDB.Swiss authorities stated that this fine relates to 34 cross-border transfers that occurred between October 2014 and July 2015, totaling approximately 174 million Swiss francs.Over the past decade, the 1MDB investment fund has been at the center of a scandal, with investigations spanning multiple continents and an estimated stolen amount exceeding 4 billion USD.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, U.S. President Trump stated that the United States will impose a 25% tariff on Malaysia and a 25% tariff on Kazakhstan.

ChainCatcher news, according to Crowdfundinsider, the Securities Commission of Malaysia (SC) released a consultation paper on July 1, proposing a comprehensive reform of the regulatory framework for Digital Asset Exchanges (DAX).The new regulations will allow eligible digital assets to be listed without prior approval, while requiring exchanges to enhance governance standards, mandate customer asset segregation, and meet higher financial thresholds. This move aims to accelerate the token listing process, expand product offerings, and enhance investor protection. Malaysia's digital asset trading reached a record 13.9 billion ringgit (approximately 2.9 billion USD) in 2024, doubling from the previous year. The public consultation period will last until August 11, 2025.