KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 — Cryptocurrency exchange Luno Malaysia Sdn Bhd (Luno) has handled more than RM 827 million worth of transactions in Malaysia since its relaunch in October 2019, and has registered 180,000 users.
Luno, which was the first Securities Commission-approved digital asset exchange in Malaysia, has a 90 per cent of the local regulated digital asset exchange market share, and the company stored more than RM165 million on behalf of its customers across four approved cryptocurrencies — Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP) and Litecoin (LTC).
Luno Malaysia country manager Aaron Tang said cryptocurrency investments have been increasing steadily in Malaysia with many investors looking to cryptocurrencies as a good store of value or a start to their investing journey.
“On Luno, 68 per cent of users buy cryptocurrencies for investment purposes as they look for alternative investment vehicles to diversify their portfolios, 10 per cent bought for trading and eight per cent for sends and receives,” he told a virtual media session today.
Luno was acquired by New York-based Digital Currency Group (DCG) in September 2020, and Luno’s customers database comprised of five million users in 40 countries.
Tang said over the last few years, the infrastructure that allows people to invest in cryptocurrencies have come a long way and regulated cryptocurrency exchanges must meet stringent anti-money laundering laws and investor protection requirements.
“Moving forward, we hope the innovation, democratisation and expansion of access brought about by regulated cryptocurrency exchanges, as well as continued governmental recognition of the services, will provide a conducive environment for users to purchase and trade digital assets safely,” he said.
Tang disclosed that the company planned to reveal new coin next year and new digital asset feature, which is currently being reviewed by regulators, as well as new deposit and withdrawal options.
“The new digital asset feature has been introduced at the global level. However, for the local market, we are still waiting for the outcome of the review,”he added. – BERNAMA