{
  "id": 17393990,
  "title": "Binance in talks for Malaysia licence after five-year absence",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/31/binance-in-talks-for-malaysia-licence-after-five-year-absence",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-31T11:15:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Straits Times Business",
    "slug": "straits-times-business",
    "url": "https://www.straitstimes.com/business/binance-in-talks-for-malaysia-licence-after-five-year-absence"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Binance is reportedly in discussions with Malaysian authorities to secure a licensed business presence in the country, following a five-year absence from the market. The cryptocurrency exchange aims to find a pathway to offer its products and services in Malaysia, as the government has blocked the exchange's website and applications. Binance spokesperson confirmed, \"We have been jointly engaging the Securities Commission Malaysia and Bank Negara Malaysia over the last ten months, on a licenced pathway to offering our products and services into Malaysia.\" The exchange is currently exploring the \"viability and structure of a licenced business model in Malaysia,\" though details of the sought license remain undisclosed. Regulatory approval would enable Binance to formally return to a market where it has faced restrictions for over five years. In July 2021, the Securities Commission ordered Binance to cease operations in Malaysia after it was found to be illegally running a digital asset exchange. The order included stopping all media and marketing activities, and restricting Malaysian investors from accessing Binance’s Telegram group. Despite being removed from the Investor Alert List in 2024, Binance was reinstated to the list earlier in October without providing a reason. Recently, Binance experienced a security breach involving up to US$6.3 billion, the largest known crypto hack. The exchange suspended withdrawals and pledged to cover all losses. This incident has amplified concerns about hacker risks in the age of artificial intelligence. In September, Malaysian lawmaker Lim Guan Eng wrote to the Securities Commission, requesting a probe into whether Binance’s peer-to-peer platform was facilitating transactions using ringgit through advertisements listed in another currency. In response, Binance voluntarily disabled a specific Papua New Guinea kina marketplace on its P2P platform, pegged to the ringgit, in light of the latest complaint concerning an isolated advertisement by a non-Malaysian user on the Romanian leu marketplace. Binance emphasized it remained committed to working with Malaysian regulators to bring its services to the country in a compliant manner.",
  "summary": "Binance was forced to cease operations there after it was found illegally running a digital asset exchange.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}