Malaysia’s Central Bank: Let the People Decide the Fate of Crypto

Bank Negara Malaysia, the central bank of the country, is soon going to release a concept paper for the public to decide what to do with cryptocurrency in the country, according to Borneo Bulletin.

The bank’s governor, Muhammad bin Ibrahim, stressed during a Q&A session at the 40th anniversary dinner of Harvard Business School Alumni Club of Malaysia that the bank would neither ban nor recognize crypto as fiat, instead leaving their people the freedom to invest if they want to. He is only calling for more transparency in trading, both in traders and in the method itself.

Johari Abdul Ghani, Malaysia’s Minister of Finance II, is also opposed to a complete ban on crypto trading in the country: in his opinion, such a move would “curb creativity and innovation in [the] financial sector.”

According to data, Muhammad bin Ibrahim says “many” people between 35 and 45 years of age are bankrupt due to unresolved credit card debts. “People should also examine their lifestyle,” even though there is a significant increase in the cost of living, according to the Borneo Bulletin.

Muhammad bin Ibrahim also added that policy makers should not “live in their own world” in a time of great changes in IT as the scope of things taken into consideration is “even larger.” In short, the people should be allowed freedom in where they want to invest, but policy makers should do their best to protect people’s assets for their own good.

He also calls for transparency and better communication in drafting policies, so the public would understand the policies for them to be effective.