Citing an industry expert, a media publication had on Friday said that the government is planning to appoint Luno as the sole crypto exchange in Malaysia

Malaysia’s central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), has denied report that it is planning to set up or appoint an official cryptocurrency exchange, as per a New Straits Times report.

The denial comes in the wake of an article published last week by Malaysian Reserve that said BNM is “likely to appoint an official cryptocurrency exchange to have a greater oversight and control into the somewhat mysterious digital currency tradings”.

In an official statement, BNM said that the article was speculative in nature, misleading and untrue.

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“A regulation will be issued to make any persons or entities providing the service of digital currency exchange as reporting institutions under schedule 1 of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, effective 2018,” it said.

Citing an industry expert, the Malaysian Reserve had on Friday said that the government is planning to appoint globally-recognised Luno as the sole crypto exchange. Luno, which currently trades bitcoin and ethereum, is one of the most active exchange platforms in Malaysia, with offices in Singapore and South Africa. 

“If it is materialised, our bitcoins will be safely guarded at Luno and transactions monitored,” the publication said quoting the source.

Last week, BNM governor Muhammad bin Ibrahim said the central bank is working on a new regulatory structure for digital currencies (cryptocurrencies). Speaking on the second day of the third Counter-Terrorism Financing Summit 2017 in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, he had said starting 2018, organisations converting cryptocurrencies into cash will come under the radar of the central bank. Such entities will fall under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.

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