The Ministry of Communications and Multimedia also wants to promote cryptos to Malaysian youth.

The Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Ministry has suggested that the country should adopt cryptocurrencies as legal tender as digital assets are the future of finance. The Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister, Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin said the move would help the youth of the country, who actively use cryptos, especially on NFT sites. (The Star)

Speaking to Dewan Rakyat on Monday (March 21) in reply to a supplementary question from Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh (Ledang-PH) on the government’s stand on trading on NFT platforms, Zahidi said: “All of these are under the purview of Bank Negara Malaysia and the Securities Commission. We hope the government will allow and legalise this so that we can increase the youth’s uptake of cryptocurrencies.”

The Bank Negara Malaysia is the country’s central bank and has not shown any inclination yet in the adoption of cryptos such as bitcoin as legal tender. However, it is mulling a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and ran a cross-border test run of a CBDC in September in conjunction with Australia, Singapore, and South Africa.

There is only one precedent so far of a country adopting bitcoin as legal tender – El Salvador. However, six months after that step there are complaints regarding technical issues surrounding the native wallet, poor customer service to help sort out problems, and the volatility in the price of bitcoin. People also complain that bitcoin ATMs are few and usually far away.

Furthermore, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of El Salvador reported this month that 86% of businesses responding in a survey said they did not use bitcoin for their transactions.

Meanwhile, a deafening silence surrounds El Salvador’s proposed launch of ‘volcano bonds’ by March 20. The bonds would finance the construction of a coin-shaped “Bitcoin city” at the base of the Conchagua volcano, as announced by El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, in November 2021.

In the absence of an official announcement, it appears that the government has delayed the launch of the bonds.

Related Story: IMF To El Salvador – “Bitcoin Should Not Be Used As Legal Tender”