Malaysia among more open Islamic markets for crypto, Fitch says

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is among the more open Islamic markets for cryptocurrency, with regulators allowing several digital assets to be classified as sharia-compliant, according to Fitch Ratings.

“Its Shariah Advisory Council of the Securities Commission (SC) declared several cryptocurrencies sharia-compliant between 2020 and 1H26, including bitcoin, ethereum, ripple and stellar.

“Ten digital asset players were regulated by the SC at end-1H26, including exchanges, custodians and initial exchange offering operators,” Fitch said in a statement.

The rating agency noted that the total trading value on Malaysia’s regulated digital asset exchanges increased by 23% year-on-year to over US$4bil in 2025, but it is still just 2.5% of the domestic equity market value traded. Bank participation remains largely restricted to services for registered operators.

Fitch expects cryptocurrency offerings in Islamic finance to “continue developing gradually in some jurisdictions”, supported by regulatory strategies, enabling regulations and, in some cases, national sharia rulings.