Kenanga Investment Bank Berhad, one of the largest financial services companies in Malaysia, is moving into the cryptocurrency industry with a new investment. According to an official Feb. 8 announcement, Kenanga has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire a 19% equity stake in a licensed crypto exchange. The investment was facilitated through Kenanga’s fully-owned private equity arm Kenanga Private Equity. According to the agreement, Kenanga will invest in Tokenize Technology, the operator of local crypto exchange Tokenize Xchange. Offering trading services for major cryptos like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), the platform is one of the three licensed digital …

China Construction Bank, the world’s second-largest bank by assets, is cooperating with Malaysian and Singaporean partners to test blockchain technology for use in the bond market. As previously reported, China Construction Bank’s branch in Labuan, Malaysia, had initially pursued a partnership with a Labuan-based fintech firm to issue what was hailed as prospectively the first-ever blockchain-based digital security to be issued by a Chinese financial institution. CCB Labuan’s plan had been to use the Ethereum blockchain to issue bonds and raise up to $3 billion in total, starting with a tranche of $58 million, from both individuals and institutions. Within …

Huobi Global, Huobi Group's flagship crypto exchange headquartered in Singapore, may have had a rocky fall in 2020 — at least, as circulating FUD and the rumors go. Today, Nov. 27, the brand has better news to announce, with the launch of another, independent platform licensed to use the Huobi name. Targeted at the Malaysian market, the new Huobi Labuan is launching trading services shortly after having secured a digital asset trading brokerage service license from Malaysian authorities in Sept. 2020. For an initial nine-month trial period, the new platform will be able to offer crypto spot and derivatives trading …

China Construction Bank’s $3 billion blockchain bond has been reportedly withdrawn following an initial delay. Fusang Exchange, a Malaysian cryptocurrency exchange that was to be responsible for listing the bond, said that it has been withdrawn at the issuer’s request. According to Reuters on Nov. 23, CCB’s branch in Labuan informed Fusang Exchange on Nov. 20 that the bond issuance would not proceed. The blockchain-based bond was to be issued by Longbond Ltd, a special purpose platform designed solely to issue digital bonds and deposit the proceeds with CCB Labuan. On Nov. 13, the day the bond had been due …

China Construction Bank has partnered with a Labuan-based fintech to issue the first-ever blockchain-based digital security issued by a Chinese financial institution. One of the “Big Four” banks in the People’s Republic of China, CCB is ranked the second-largest bank worldwide by total assets as of fall 2020. The megabank’s plan with the new blockchain-based debt issuance is to raise up to $3 billion in total, starting with a tranche of $58 million, from individuals and institutions. The digital bonds will be issued through an offshore branch of CCB in Labuan, Malaysia, at a minimum of as little as $100 …

Australia’s crypto-friendly capital-raising platform Stax has announced its client West Coast Aquaculture Group, or WCA, will be conducting the country’s first initial public offering that accepts virtual currency as payment. Investors participating in WCA’s offering can purchase equity in the company using Tether (USDT) or Australian dollars. USDT was chosen over Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) due to its price stability. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Stax CEO Kenny Lee emphasized that stablecoins offer the benefits of cryptocurrency without the volatility of other digital assets: “The acceptance of USDT in an IPO is a transformative move in Australia and a significant step …

The Securities Commission Malaysia has issued revised guidelines governing digital assets, effective as of Oct. 28. These are intended to regulate initial exchange offerings, or IEOs, and digital asset custodians. According to the SCM, the rules aim to promote “responsible innovation in the digital asset space, while at the same time managing emerging risks and safeguarding the interests of issuers and investors.” As Cointelegraph reported, the SCM first published a regulatory guide for IEOs back in January. This laid out rules which enabled companies to raise funds via token issuance only through an approved and registered digital asset exchange, but …

Just three months after a landmark decision declaring digital assets trading is permissible under Islamic law, and religious scholars in Malaysia say crypto is looking bullish as an investment. The Malaysian Reserve reported Dr. Modh Daud Bakar, the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) Shariah Advisory Council chairman, as saying that crypto has great potential but adoption in the country faced challenges from a lack of understanding about the asset class. Speaking at the SCxSC Fintech Conference 2020 in Kuala Lumpur on Oct. 6, he said that only 2% of Malaysians have any knowledge about cryptocurrencies. Bakar said because crypto was not …

The founder of Malaysian investment giant Country Heights Holdings is stepping down from his position to focus on issuing a cryptocurrency. According to a Sept. 28 article in news outlet The Edge Markets, billionaire Lee Kim Yew — also known as Lee Kim Tiong — will no longer be the executive chairman of Country Heights as of Jan 2021. “I am handing over the public-listed company’s business to the new directors and I will concentrate on cryptocurrencies,” said Lee. The 65-year-old announced in 2018 that Country Heights would be pursuing the development of an initial coin offering, or ICO, for …

The United States has taken actions against international hackers responsible for the theft of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency. On September 16, the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced it has imposed sanctions on two Russian nationals who used a sophistication phishing campaign to steal at least $16.8 million from the customers of three virtual currency exchanges in 2017 and 2018 — including two based in the United States. The pair, Danil Potekhin and Dmitrii Karasavidi, created multiple websites impersonating legitimate crypto exchanges …

A major suspect in a high-profile theft case related to Bitcoin (BTC) trading has pleaded guilty in a Singaporean court. Syed Mokhtar Syed Yusope, an accomplice in a $360,000 robbery, pleaded guilty in a district court to a robbery charge on Sept. 9, Singeporean news agency The Straits Times reports. Mokhtar, alongside his two accomplices, Jaromel Gee Ming Li and Mohd Abdul Rahman Mohamad, stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from a Malaysian man in Singapore. Pretending to represent a Bitcoin broker, the group duped the victim into believing that they wanted to sell him Bitcoin for cash. …

The South Asian nation of Bangladesh will soon get its first blockchain remittance system that will allow Bangladeshi expats in Malaysia to instantly transfer wage remittances to their home country. According to a report from The Business Standard, the British national banking service firm Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) today announced the blockchain-based cross-border remittance service for Bangladesh. SCB developed the remittance service in collaboration with the Bangladesh-based mobile banking platform bKash and the Malaysian remittance provider Valyou. It utilizes the blockchain technology of Ant Group, the financial arm of the Chinese business conglomerate Alibaba Group. Ant Group, formerly known as …