Where To Buy Crypto in M'sia? Are They Regulated By SC?

GIMME THE COIN, HENNY!

 
Why safe? Because the Securities Commission (SC) requires these platforms to have an independent trustee in which they are entrusted with the investors' fund instead of the platform. Apakah?! Basically, the platform can’t just lari with your money if things go south.


 

Before we go further...

... let us talk about what is ‘maker’ and ‘taker’ when it comes to buying and selling your crypto. You’ll see this a lot below in the different platforms in the latter part of the article.

• Maker: Someone who creates the buying or selling order. But the orders are not carried out instantly. For example, “sell ETH when the price hits $10k”. This makes it easier for people to buy or sell when their specific conditions are met.
• Taker: Someone who buys or sells instantly. 

        

Now let’s get into these DAX platforms so that you can make your decision on which platform you wanna get rich on!

Sinegy

First up, we look at Sinegy. This is the first DAX platform that was available in Malaysia made by Malaysians from Penang! They started in 2017 with the hopes of bringing digital assets closer to Malaysians. They’re powered by AWS, which is Amazon’s cloud computing. 

One of the biggest benefits of using Sinegy is that you will get a 0.25% rebate for being a market maker with them. They also don’t require a minimum deposit which is great if you’re just breaking into the cryptocurrency world. 

However, with the lack of an app, Sinegy might not be so accessible for people who are always on the go and are mobile-savvy. They also only have 2 crypto options. So if you’re only looking to trade Bitcoin and Ethereum, then maybe you can give this a whirl.

What we LIKE:

• Easy-to-understand website
• No minimum deposit
• Maker fee of -0.25%

What we DISLIKE:

• Only 2 crypto options (Bitcoin & Ethereum)
• Doesn’t have an app
• No referral or points system

Why you should consider it:  
If you’re looking to buy and sell large amounts of crypto, then this site may be for you because of the 0.25% rebate you get with being a maker.

 

Tokenize

Next one! Here’s a mindblower for you - the founder of Tokenize is only 28 years old! Hong Qi Yu from Malaysia developed this after his stint as a developer at a fintech company. He’s a blockchain enthusiast who has portfolios across FOREX, equities, and digital currencies. 

Tokenize offers more options for trading such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Ripple. They also have their own trading app and website although it’s relatively simple-looking (basically not very attractive la). But the best part is that they also charge you 0% for being a market maker.

Why use this one then? Well, they offer a sweet referral program if any of your friends sign up! You get 15 Tokenize Points which is worth RM15. Free moneyyyyy. But they do require a minimum deposit of RM100 though.
 

What we LIKE:

• Trades against Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple
• Charges 0% maker fee
• Earn points through a referral system
• Has a trading app and website

What we DISLIKE:

• Relatively high taker fee at 0.8%
• The app is rather basic looking
• RM100 minimum deposit

Why you should consider it:
If you’re looking to buy and sell a lot of cryptos but mainly on Litecoin and Ripple, this would be more suitable with the 0% market maker fee.

Luno

Now we have arguably the most popular platform on the market. They have been all around the world having exposure in the UK, Singapore, as well as Australia and all the likes.

Luno provides you with the option to choose between a standard layout and the exchange itself on the app. The standard layout provides an instant buy option to get your favourite coin easily but at a slightly high fee of 2%. The minimum deposit is quite minimal at RM10 so it can also be a good starting place to try your hand at crypto.

The best part is that they do provide a very nice referral bonus when a friend of yours uses the instant buy option with at least RM250 worth. You will then be rewarded with RM25 worth of Bitcoin. Best kan? Luno also has by far the most options for coins (Bitcoin, BitCash, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple).

They are also introducing a Savings Wallet that offers approximately 3% to 4% per annum interest which provides a nifty little bump in your assets. But this feature hasn’t been implemented yet.
 

What we LIKE:

• Trades against Bitcoin, BitCash, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple
• Pretty looking app and website
• Instant buy/sell option
• Upcoming savings wallet

What we DISLIKE:

• Maker Fee Up to 0.25%
• Taker fee up to 0.5%

Why you should consider it:
If you’re looking to buy and sell a lot of cryptos but mainly on Litecoin and Ripple, this would be more suitable with the 0% market maker fee.

 

Alright. So we talked about the 3 platforms approved by SC and are the most accessible for Malaysians…

 

... but we're sure you're curious to see what other options out there since we see so many ads about all kinds of trading apps, right? 

So let’s talk about P2P trading first. It stands for peer-to-peer and how it works is just like buying or selling something on Shopee or Lazada. You purchase the product then you wait for it to be delivered. The only difference is that it’s instantaneous and the product is the cryptocurrency.

So why use P2P trading in the first place if it’s so similar to buying off the exchange? You get to have full control over your own wallet and privacy. Plus because you’re dealing with people and not the exchanges, you get to negotiate about the pricing of Bitcoin as well.

 

Let’s get into the unregulated platforms now!

Binance

Although this app isn’t regulated, it’s still a pretty decent platform to trade your crypto. Because it’s not regulated by our SC, we can’t directly use our bank accounts to instantly buy the coins, but what we can do is take advantage of their P2P trading system.

At the time of this writing, advertising and transactions have 0% fees. They also have two different versions that you can switch from - Binance Pro / Binance Lite. The pro gives you a huge amount of features such as converting from one coin to another. The lite, however, is the easier, simple to use version.
 

What we LIKE:

• Trades against all sorts of coins
• 0% Transaction Fee
• P2P Trading
• Converting Crypto to Another Coin

What we DISLIKE:

• No direct deposit
• Not protected by SC

Why you should consider it:
If you’re going for other alternate coins instead, Binance can be a good option for you.

LocalBitcoins

Another option that we can look at is LocalBitcoins. They have been around since 2012 and have been one of the earliest P2P trading platforms for Bitcoin locally. One of the biggest advantages of using this platform is that you can buy Bitcoin with a huge assortment of payment options. Some users have used Boost E-Wallet or even BigPay to buy their coins. They also charge you 0% for buying and selling coins.

But it only serves to do one thing and one thing only- a platform to connect you and other buyers to buy and sell ONLY Bitcoin. LocalBitcoins also charges you a 1% fee for creating orders on their platform which could be a big turnoff for people.

 

What we LIKE:

• Full control over wallet and privacy
• 0% fee for buying and selling
• P2P Trading

What we DISLIKE:

• Trades only in Bitcoin
• Charges 1% for creating orders
• Multiple payment options
• Not regulated by SC

Why you should consider it:
If you only want Bitcoin but want the option to look for better pricing, this is a good platform to do it on.
 

In the end, it depends on what your purpose is for buying cryptocurrency... 

Are you on a HODL strategy? Do you have a lot of money to dump into crypto, or are you doing this to pass time to earn a few extra bucks here and there?

Regardless of what your purpose is, it is always a good general guide to not dump all your money in one basket. And remember that the nature of the cryptocurrency space has always been super volatile and high risk. Do it at your own risk and pace k! If that’s okay with you then, invest away!

Here’s our simple breakdown on which platform to buy:

So there you have it folks, go out there and start buying yourself some coins! Let’s get rich together k! #HodlIt


*The above article is intended for informational purposes only. Loanstreet accepts no responsibility for loss that may arise from reliance on information contained in the articles.


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