The Shariah Advisory Council of Malaysia’s securities commission has advised that it is permissible to invest and trade cryptocurrencies on registered crypto exchanges. About 60% of the country’s population are Muslims, many of whom have been reluctant to trade crypto in concern that it would possibly not be Sharia-compliant.

Shariah-Compliant Crypto Trading

The Shariah Advisory Council of the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) reportedly revealed its position on cryptocurrency buying and selling in the country at the Invest Malaysia 2020 event this week. SC chairman Datuk Syed Zaid Albar was quoted by the Edge Markets as saying during a teleconference panel session.

The SC Shariah Advisory Council has resolved that in principle, it is permissible to invest and trade in digital currencies and tokens on registered digital asset exchanges.

He added: “This is a really ground-breaking resolution by the SAC (Shariah Advisory Council) that could spur greater development and investment in digital assets … Once the resolution is finalised, we will issue further details.”

The Shariah Advisory Council was established with the endorsement of the Malaysian Ministry of Finance in 1996. Its mandate, according to the SC website, is “to ensure that the implementation of the Islamic capital market complied with Shariah principles. Its scope of jurisdiction is to advise the commission on all matters related to the comprehensive development of the Islamic capital market and to function as a reference centre for all Islamic capital market issues.”