“It’s an interesting idea and we should indeed be exploring it immediately,” said Barjoyai Bardai of Universiti Tun Abdul Razak.

He told FMT he believed Bank Negara was open to the possibility of capitalising on cryptocurrency.

“Normally, phases of growth with cryptocurrency will start with e-wallets,” he said. “So all of us should be using e-wallets in our transactions and slowly eliminating the use of token money.”

During the debate on the royal address in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday, Najib said Malaysia should keep up with global trends and emulate countries like Switzerland, Singapore, Australia and South Korea by starting to accept cryptocurrency.

He said the global cryptocurrency market was now worth about US$2 trillion (RM8.3 trillion).

He noted that the Securities Commission had approved four platforms for cryptocurrency trading.

However, Najib said Malaysian investors must be given the opportunity to cooperate with international cryptocurrency trading platforms as this would encourage foreign cryptocurrency holders to bring their assets into the country, where they could be invested in the local market.

Noting the huge fluctuations in the price of Bitcoin, the world’s largest digital currency by market capitalisation, Barjoyai said a key consideration in any move to expand the cryptocurrency market in Malaysia would be the principles set out by the Security Commission’s Shariah Advisory Council.

Last July, the council announced that it was permissible for Muslims to invest and trade in cryptocurrencies as long as they were backed by tangible assets.

“Cryptocurrency relies on people’s confidence and the supply and demand of the currency. That’s the issue then and that’s still the issue now,” Barjoyai said.

“Initially, it was meant to be for investment rather than transaction purposes. But until it is well accepted worldwide, it will remain limited to certain communities.”