Key takeaways
- Malaysian Comms deputy minister Zahidi Zainul Abidin urged the government to legalize cryptocurrencies in light of their growing popularity among young people
- El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as legal tender last September and to this day remains the only nation to have done so
- Several other countries are also warming up to the idea of making Bitcoin legal tender
El Salvador is the only country to have adopted Bitcoin as legal tender so far
Zahidi Zainul Abidin, a deputy minister of the Communications and Multimedia Ministry told the Malaysian parliament on Monday that Malaysia should make Bitcoin and other digital currencies legal tender. “We are trying to see how we can legalize this so that we can develop youth participation in crypto and assist them,” Zahidi urged his colleagues.
If the Southeastern Asian country decides to adopt crypto as legal tender, it would become the second nation in the world to do so. So far, El Salvador remains the only country to use Bitcoin as legal tender, after passing the widely-publicized Bitcoin Law last year.
According to a local news outlet Harian Metro, Zahidi’s comments came as a response to parliamentary member Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, who made an inquiry about the government’s stance on non-fungible token (NFT) platforms amidst their growing popularity among Malaysian youth.
In recent months, several other countries have expressed interest in making digital currencies have an equal legal footing as conventional currencies. In June 2021, a congressman and the National Deputy of Paraguay, Carlitos Rejala, called for Paraguay to follow in the footsteps of El Salvador. Also, a Mexican senator Indira Kempis is reportedly working on a bill based on El Salvador’s crypto legislation that would make Bitcoin legal tender in Mexico.
