Hata Receives Conditional Approval To Operate As Fifth Digital Asset Exchange In Malaysia

Malaysian investors will soon have a new platform where they can invest and trade cryptocurrencies, on top of the existing platforms. This comes as the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has granted conditional approval to Hata as the fifth recognised market operator (RMO) in Malaysia to operate a digital asset exchange (DAX).

With this, Hata will need to fulfil the necessary requirements set out by the SC in the next six to nine months before it can become a fully regulated crypto trading platform. It aims to officially open its platform to customers in Malaysia in early 2024.

In addition to this, Hata also obtained approval from the SC to operate as a digital broker (DB), making it the first entity in Malaysia to receive this approval from the regulator. As a digital broker, Hata is allowed to “seek liquidity from other regulated exchanges”; in other words, it can tap into other exchanges and show their trade orders on its own web and app, so that investors can match and trade digital assets as close to the market price as possible.

by Ringgit Plus

Hata’s co-founder and chief executive officer David Low said that the company is excited to have reached this milestone, and will be working towards obtaining full approvals as a DAX and digital broker.

“Hata wants to enable safe and effortless cryptocurrency access, and we look forward to being a one-stop and reliable platform for our customers with our suite of products and services. With the goal of challenging the existing norms, we plan to make digital asset investing easier to institutional investors, businesses, and high-net-worth individuals in Malaysia, and we look forward to launching our platform soon,” said Low.

Prior to co-founding Hata, Low was the former APAC general manager of Luno Malaysia, which is currently the largest DAX in Malaysia with approximately 840,000 customers. He was involved in Luno’s DAX application and helped launched the platform as Malaysia’s first DAX back in 2019. Other DAX that are currently also licensed to operate in Malaysia include MX Global, SINEGY DAX, and Tokenize Technology.

Aside from this latest conditional approval from the SC, Hata had also recently obtained a Money Broker licence from the Labuan Financial Services Authority (LFSA). Investors who wish to be notified of Hata’s official launch in Malaysia can register their interest on Hata’s website and join the waitlist. This will also entitle them to a reward when the MYR exchange is eventually launched.