Malaysia’s central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), has launched a three-year initiative to explore and test asset tokenization within the financial sector. The roadmap, unveiled this Friday, will see BNM launch proof-of-concept projects and live pilots through its Digital Asset Innovation Hub (DAIH). The initiative is bolstered by the creation of an Asset Tokenization Industry Working Group (IWG), co-led by BNM and the Securities Commission (SC), which will coordinate industry-wide exploration, share knowledge and identify regulatory challenges. Focus will initially be on foundational use cases with clear economic value.
The IWG’s work will explore areas like supply chain financing to broaden SME credit access, tokenized liquidity management for faster transactions, and Islamic finance applications automating Shariah-compliant transactions. BNM is also examining the integration of tokenized deposits and stablecoins in MYR, aiming to preserve a single currency while facilitating efficient digital settlement.
The roadmap also includes exploring CBDC integration with wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) integration. Malaysia’s ambition aligns with other Asian regulators like Singapore’s MAS and Hong Kong’s HKMA in piloting asset tokenization to modernize financial infrastructure. Industry feedback on the discussion paper is open until March 1, 2026.
In July, Malaysia’s Securities Commission proposed a new framework allowing approved cryptocurrency exchanges to list certain digital assets without prior regulator approval. This proposal demands public security audits for listed assets and requires them to have traded for at least one year on platforms compliant with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards.