Malaysian Deputy Minister Says that Country should Consider Bitcoin as Legal Tender

According to the community voting on CoinMarketCap, more than 40 countries around the world have considered making Bitcoin legal tender. The latest region to join the list is Malaysia. The news about the possibility has recently started to circulate on the internet. Unlike other rumors like Honduras, the rumors about Bitcoin adoption in Malaysia have strong evidence.

The speculation started after the statement of the Deputy Minister of Malaysia to this end. The first country to famously adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender is none other than El Salvador. The Central American nation first made the transition in September last year. During the six months, Salvador has faced many obstacles in the way of Bitcoin adoption, but the country is still thriving.

Zahidi Zainul stated in a media interview that the country should consider making Bitcoin legal tender. Zainul is the appointed Communications and MultiMedia manager in Malaysia. He was speaking to a journalist at Bloomberg when he claimed that the Southeast Asian country should consider the proposition.

He addressed the parliament by hoping to get approval from the local governing body. Ministry of Communications handles the internet infrastructure and also expands to digital signatures. The Ministry of Science and Ministry of Finance are also expected to support the idea.

Asian Countries are not Interested in Crypto Adoption

The largest Asian economy, China, has effectively banned cryptocurrency trading and mining since last year. Meanwhile, the 2nd largest Asian economy, India, is also on the same path. Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman made some remarks towards this end recently. Indonesia, another SouthEast Asian country, has issued a Fatwa against crypto trading, calling it forbidden under religious sanctions.

At this point, it is visible that the government of Malaysia does not have any plans to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender in the fashion of El Salvador. The biggest emphasis of the state is to work on the development of a Central Bank Digital Currency. Last year September, Malaysian CB joined a trial with the international Settlements and announced later that it was working on Proof of Concept.