Crypto Law Profile
Malaysia’s 2019 prescription order treats qualifying digital currencies and digital tokens as securities under the Capital Markets and Services Act framework.
Capital Markets and Services Digital Currency and Digital Token Order 2019 is Malaysia’s securities-perimeter order for qualifying digital currencies and digital tokens. The official title is Capital Markets and Services (Prescription of Securities) (Digital Currency and Digital Token) Order 2019, issued as P.U.(A) 12/2019 under section 5 of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007. The order was made on Jan. 8, 2019 and came into operation on Jan. 15, 2019. As of June 5, 2026, it remains active and incorporates the 2025 amendment made by P.U.(A) 6/2025.
The order is best understood as a securities-law classification instrument. It does not create a full standalone crypto licensing code by itself. Instead, it prescribes when digital currencies and digital tokens are treated as securities for Malaysian securities-law purposes, enabling the Securities Commission Malaysia, or SC, to regulate digital-asset offering, trading, and safekeeping through related guidelines and recognised-market requirements.
The order defines “digital currency” as a digital representation of value recorded on a distributed digital ledger, whether cryptographically secured or otherwise, that functions as a medium of exchange and is interchangeable with money, including through account crediting or debiting. The 2025 consolidated version defines “digital token” as a digital representation recorded on a distributed digital ledger, but excludes certain government securities, shares, debentures, unit trust interests, and prescribed investments, while including related rights, options, or interests.
A digital currency is prescribed as securities where three conditions are satisfied. It must be traded on a place or facility where offers to sell, purchase, or exchange the digital currency are regularly made or accepted; a person must expect a return from trading, conversion, redemption, or appreciation in value; and it must not be issued or guaranteed by a government body or central bank specified by the SC.
A digital token is prescribed as securities where it represents a right or interest in an arrangement that satisfies the order’s investment-like criteria. Those criteria include receipt of the token for consideration, pooling of contributions and returns, returns generated from property, assets, or business activities, an expected return from token trading, conversion, redemption, or appreciation, no day-to-day control by the token holder, and no issuance or guarantee by a specified government body or central bank.
The order provides that securities laws apply to digital currencies and digital tokens that are prescribed as securities under the order, except for Division 3 of Part VI of the Capital Markets and Services Act. This makes the order a gateway provision for Malaysia’s broader digital-asset framework rather than a complete operating rulebook for exchanges, issuers, or custodians.
P.U.(A) 6/2025 amended the 2019 order by replacing the definition of “digital token” and deleting paragraph 5 of the principal order. SC’s official Capital Markets and Services Act page lists the amendment with a coming-into-force date of Jan. 9, 2025 and identifies the 2019 order as incorporating that amendment.
Malaysia’s operating framework sits around the order. The SC’s digital-assets page states that trading, issuance, and safekeeping of digital assets in Malaysia are regulated by the SC through the 2019 prescription order and related guidelines. SC also maintains guidelines for recognised market operators, including digital asset exchanges, and Guidelines on Digital Assets for digital-token offerings and digital-asset custodians.
As of June 5, 2026, the order should be treated as active, as amended. It remains a core Malaysian legal reference for identifying when digital currencies and digital tokens fall within the capital-market securities framework. Editors should review the separate SC Guidelines on Recognized Markets, Guidelines on Digital Assets, and any future tokenisation framework updates when describing operational requirements for exchanges, issuers, brokers, or custodians.
Defines digital currency as a DLT-recorded representation of value functioning as a medium of exchange and interchangeable with money.
Defines digital token as a DLT-recorded digital representation, as amended in 2025 to exclude several conventional securities categories.
Prescribes digital currency as securities if traded on a facility, linked to expected returns, and not government or central-bank guaranteed.
Prescribes digital tokens as securities when investment-style arrangement, pooling, return, control, and non-government guarantee criteria are met.
Applies Malaysian securities laws to prescribed digital currencies and tokens, subject to the order’s carve-out for Division 3 of Part VI.
P.U.(A) 6/2025 replaced the digital token definition and deleted paragraph 5 of the original order.
Enables the SC’s related guidelines for digital-asset trading, issuance, safekeeping, recognised markets, IEOs, and custodians.
The Minister of Finance made P.U.(A) 12/2019 on the recommendation of the Securities Commission Malaysia.
The principal order came into operation and prescribed qualifying digital currencies and digital tokens as securities.
SC revised its Guidelines on Recognized Markets to introduce requirements for digital asset exchange operators.
SC issued Guidelines on Digital Assets for IEO operators, token issuers, and digital asset custodians.
SC revised the Guidelines on Digital Assets, including updates aligned with technology-risk management requirements.
P.U.(A) 6/2025 came into force, amending the digital token definition and deleting paragraph 5.
SC listed a revised version of the Guidelines on Recognized Markets, including DAX framework materials.
Minister of Finance Malaysia, Securities Commission Malaysia
Digital assets, Digital currency, Digital token
Regulatory prescription order, not a standalone crypto licensing code. The order sets the securities-law perimeter for qualifying digital currencies and digital tokens; operational rules sit in SC guidelines and related CMSA requirements.
