Binance explores Malaysian licence in talks with regulators
The cryptocurrency exchange says discussions have lasted 10 months, but has not specified the licence it wants.
Binance says it is discussing a possible licensed Malaysian business with Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) and Bank Negara Malaysia. A spokesperson told Bloomberg that engagement with both regulators had continued for 10 months, covering the feasibility and potential structure of such an operation.
The exchange declined to specify which licence it was seeking. Obtaining approval would allow a formal return to Malaysia, where authorities have blocked access to its applications and website.
In July 2021, the SC instructed Binance to stop operating locally, having found that its digital asset exchange was operating illegally. The restrictions also covered marketing, media activity and Malaysian investors’ access to its Telegram group. The regulator removed Binance from its Investor Alert List in 2024, then restored it in October without explaining why.
Separately, Malaysian lawmaker Lim Guan Eng sought an SC investigation in September into whether advertisements using other currency denominations enabled ringgit transactions through Binance’s peer-to-peer (P2P) service.
Binance said its engagement with the SC included voluntarily disabling a Papua New Guinea kina marketplace unofficially linked to the ringgit. It characterised the latest complaint as a single advertisement posted in the Romanian leu marketplace by a user who was not Malaysian. The company denied that its other products were ringgit substitutes or pegged to the currency.
Lim’s office circulated his letter following a Binance security breach involving up to US$6.3 billion (RM25.6 billion). The exchange halted withdrawals and promised to reimburse all losses, while full details of the incident remained unavailable.
