Public advised to be cautious with the digital currency which is not legal tender in Malaysia, the bank cautions An iPhone5 displays the Bitcoin Wallet smartphone app.The Malaysian central bank warned against the currency.Photograph: Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images Public advised to be cautious with the digital currency which is not legal tender in Malaysia, the bank cautions The Malaysian central bank has become the latest to warn against the use of bitcoin in a statement released on Friday."The Bitcoin is not recognised as legal tender in Malaysia," the statement reads."The Central Bank does not regulate the operations of Bitcoin.The public is therefore advised to be cautious of the risks associated with the usage of such digital currency."The warning mimics that of the Chinese central bank, which told financial institutions in December that the digital currency doesn't have "real meaning" and lacks legal protections.The Chinese warning was followed up by a ban on third-party payment processors handling payments for bitcoin exchanges, a move which in effect ended legal purchases of bitcoin in the country.

Colbert Lau, the founder of Bitcoin Malaysia, which promotes the currency domestically, said that he was not concerned by the bank's statement."It's similar to the stance taken by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) [Singapore's central bank] earlier.While The Bank of Thailand had an outright ban, our Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) did not outlaw its use or say bitcoin was illegal."We foresee big players from USA and Europe moving rapidly to Asia in the next few months and setting up local branches."bitcoin sudokuMissing: hard drive containing bitcoin worth £4m in Newport landfill sitexbox bitcoin minerLegal The European Union has passed no specific legislation relative to the status of the bitcoin as a currency, but has stated that VAT/GST is not applicable to the conversion between traditional (fiat) currency and bitcoin.ethereum poloniex

VAT/GST and other taxes (such as income tax) still apply to transactions made using bitcoins for goods and services.[1]:European Union In October 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that "The exchange of traditional currencies for units of the ‘bitcoin’ virtual currency is exempt from VAT" and that "Member States must exempt, inter alia, transactions relating to ‘currency, bank notes and coins used as legal tender’", making bitcoin a currency as opposed to being a commodity.[2][3]bitcoin anmelden kostenAccording to judges, the tax shouldn’t be charged because bitcoins should be treated as a means of payment.[4]ethereum set coinbaseAccording to the European Central Bank, traditional financial sector regulation is not applicable to bitcoin because it does not involve traditional financial actors.[5]:5sell litecoin india

Others in the EU have stated, however, that existing rules can be extended to include bitcoin and bitcoin companies.[6]The European Central Bank classifies bitcoin as a convertible decentralized virtual currency.[5]:6In July 2014 the European Banking Authority advised European banks not to deal in virtual currencies such as bitcoin until a regulatory regime was in place.[7]In 2016 the European Parliament's proposal to set up a taskforce to monitor virtual currencies to combat money laundering and terrorism, passed by 542 votes to 51, with 11 abstentions, has been sent to the European Commission for consideration.[8]bitcoin em baixaThe European Commission also notably presented a "parallel" proposal aimed at preventing tax evasion techniques as revealed in the Panama Papers.[9]ethereum time per blockIn 2017 it was revealed that the proposal will require cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets to identify suspicious activity.[10]bitcoin edinburgh

Looking for information about bitcoin in Malaysia?I’m glad people are showing more interest in this, but it’s risky to dive in without sufficient information.From my experience admin-ing one of the Bitcoin Malaysia FB pages (here; join for latest news and updates), seems like many people like to promote unsafe bitcoin investment opportunities.So here’s a FAQ about everything you should know about Bitcoin in Malaysia, as a newbie.This is kept fairly jargon free.Versi Malay yang ditulis oleh SenangBit It’s a decentralised cryptocurrency and digital currency.Decentralised = not issued or regulated by any governments.Your RM was issued by Malaysian government right?So decentralised means that bitcoin (and most other cryptocurrencies) is not under any country.The easiest way to describe bitcoin is its an ‘internet currency’.Imagine the internet as a country and bitcoins can be sent anywhere without geographical borders.Because it’s not bound by a country, you can effectively use it anywhere globally (online and offline), as long as you have access to it.

Oh, bitcoin is not anonymous btw.If you heard that, I’ll tell you now that it’s a myth.A criminal who uses bitcoin is a stupid criminal.Transactions are fairly easy to trace via Blockchain.info, but having said that there are ways to hide the trails if one is clever.If I’m a criminal I’d just stick to paper money tbh, that’s way more anonymous.The legality of bitcoin can be debated.In Malaysia, it’s not considered as money at all (BNM don’t consider it legal tender).In some countries, the government wants to ban bitcoin or actively discourage it (Venezuala, for example, released propaganda against bitcoin).This Legality of Bitcoin by Country page has a good overview (though some not updated).That said, there are some progressive countries.Japan recognises it as legal currency, and the Swiss city Zug allows local citizens to pay with bitcoins for government services.Short answer: yes if you understand the risks associated.I wrote about this extensively in this and this articles – both of them are NOT opinion pieces.

They are the result of hours of research; I read scholarly articles and interviewed an Islamic Finance Professor from INCEIF.If you don’t know how bitcoin works, then it’s considered haram-ish because that’s just gambling.This is probably the most important question for some of you.There are two main ways: mining and buying.Let me stop you there.Yes, you can mine bitcoins in Malaysia.Will you get fast profit from it?Better you hear it from me first.Because you need (1) expensive equipment to start and (2) you can’t compete with Chinese miners.ONE bitcoin mining machine costs thousands of ringgit, and you’ll have to pay for electricity on top of that.If you mine bitcoins yourself, you’ll get your modal back in a few years (by which time new, better bitcoin mining equipment already come out).Chinese miners have dedicated factories filled with thousands of these equipment.AND they have cheap (or free) electricity.See the video below, its an eye-opener.My advice if you want to mine bitcoins?

Do it as a hobby, and only as a hobby.It’s not recommended to do at home – it’s hot and noisy.I hear this a lot.So cloud mining is bitcoin mining factories that allow you to buy ‘shares’ or whatever in return for bitcoin profits.The idea is that someone else will do the actual mining for you, while you help them with the upkeep (usually to help pay electric bill).It sounds good on paper.The problem is, most cloud mining companies are thinly veiled Ponzi/pyramid schemes instead (read my article on how to spot investment scams here).The profit you get is referral profit, instead of actual bitcoin mining profit.It makes money only for the top few people, while the rest will lose their investments.For this reason, I actively discourage you to enter any cloud mining opportunities.Bitkingdom, HashOcean and other names included in this BadBitcoin BadList should be avoided.If you have money in there… take it out, while you still can.The information in this section has been kindly provided by captminer, who have been mining bitcoins in Malaysia since 2013.

Where to buy mining equipment.You can buy mining equipment from Bitmain.This website is recommended as they provide warranty, although claiming said warranty can take a long time.You can also buy locally used mining equipment from Malaysians – this can be a cheaper option, but of course no warranty.Browse Lowyat, sometimes people sell there – obviously look for trusted sellers as scams can happen there too.Who mines bitcoins in Malaysia.The group is kind of scattered and low-profile, so the best bet is to join some bitcoin groups in Malaysia and ask.There’s no restrictions or clubs or permissions that you need to get to start mining bitcoins in Malaysia.But do be aware that the mining equipment will be noisy, heat up, consume a lot of power, comes with high setup fee, maintenance and time cost.To quote Capt, ‘it’s not as easy as one may think’.What is the typical ROI (return on investment).It USED to be 3 months ROI.Now Capt said it’s closer to 6 months, BUT this does not take into account maintenance like electricity cost and rigging/setup.

Miners will also need to know that there are other variables that will affect the potential profit, such as downtime, miner management, bitcoin prices, what to do once upon successful mining, equipment breakdown, spare parts, rental for dedicated space, and more.Taking all these into consideration, its best to do this as a hobby – you have to be knowledgeable and passionate about equipment rigging and stuff.The money is a bonus.Bitcoin faucets give you ridiculously small amounts of bitcoins that you shouldn’t even bother.Once I spent days in tens of bitcoin faucets and earned… USD0.20.Some also give extras if you get lots of referrals, but in general not that profitable.Your time is more valuable than that 🙂 Well you can also ask people to donate to you, or accept it as payment for your products/services, or work for it (google ‘work for bitcoin’).But the fastest is to buy them.There are a few reputable exchanges in Malaysia – see next section.The usual process to buy bitcoin is: As a rule of thumb, the more relaxed the rule (buy with gift card, no verification), the higher the bitcoin price.

There are exceptions, but this is usually the case.It’s also almost impossible to buy below market rate, unless you manage to negotiate a bulk deal.There are other things to know, but the above covers pretty basic must-know information if you’re a bitcoin newbie.Sorry my crystal ball haven’t arrive yet 🙂 I’m big on ‘dollar-cost-averaging’ method.Ie you buy little by little over a period of time.This way you’re less susceptible to effects of price swings.If the value goes up, yes.If the value goes down, no.Bitcoin is not a get-rich-quick scheme.Bitcoin sells for different prices in different countries.In some countries, the value is higher than the global average price (see BitcoinAverage), so some people make money by buying in X country and selling in Y country.This is called arbitrage.Please read new article: FAQ: How to Invest in Cryptocurrencies in Malaysia (Aside from Bitcoin) Follow the steps below.Also, here are some shops in Malaysia that accept bitcoin as payment.

Once you have the bitcoins, you can let it stay in your bitcoin wallet (note the volatility) or exchange it back to fiat immediately.How to do this?A few ways: Disclosure: I am affiliated with Wirex.Here’s an article of a case study on how a small business used Wirex to accept bitcoin.If you download Wirex app (android, iOS compatible), you’ll get to claim a free virtual bitcoin debit card to play around with.Not many places accept bitcoin as payment yet, but if you have a bitcoin debit card it makes it easier to spend it.Bitcoin debit cards are linked to Visa/Mastercard etc, so effectively you’ll get to spend it at millions more places.Here’s an article I wrote about the cards’ usefulness, published on CompareHero.Use this referral link to get 25% off plastic Wirex cards).ProTip: Use my referral link to register an account, then install the Wirex app (android, iOS) and get free virtual card (tutorial).This way, you get both free virtual card AND the 25% plastic card discount.

If you prefer locally-issued credit cards instead, read my Hack: How to Maximise Cashback Credit Cards article.I briefly touched on bitcoin storage above.There are several ways to keep your bitcoins safe.One of the most secure options is with hardware wallets, which essentially takes your bitcoins off the internet, so no one can take it.If you have a significant amount of bitcoins, it’s a good idea to get one of these for safe storage..my, but the shop is no longer available.The other popular option for bitcoin storage is Trezor hardware wallet.Sometimes you can find people selling them on FB, Lowyat or Mudah, but you also make direct purchase from their official shops.If you type in ‘Bitcoin Malaysia’ in the search, a few will pop up.NOT ALL ARE GOOD – some promote HYIP/Ponzi schemes and some allow bitcoin buying/selling without escrow (no protection to both buyer and seller, easy to lose money this way).The ones I can vouch for: We’re really not creative with our names, are we?