Binance Seeks Malaysian Return Amid Security Breach

Binance is in discussions with Malaysian regulators regarding a potential licensed business within the country. The cryptocurrency exchange has been engaging with the Securities Commission Malaysia and Bank Negara Malaysia for the past ten months, exploring a pathway to offer its products and services legally.

This move signifies Binance's attempt to re-enter a market where it has faced significant restrictions for over five years. In July 2021, the Securities Commission had ordered Binance to cease its operations in Malaysia, citing illegal digital asset exchange activities. The exchange was also instructed to halt all marketing and restrict Malaysian investors' access to its Telegram group.

Earlier in 2026, the Securities Commission had removed Binance from its Investor Alert List, only to add it back this month without providing a specific reason. These regulatory engagements come shortly after Binance experienced a major security breach, with losses estimated up to $6.3 billion, marking the largest known crypto hack.

Concerns were also raised by Malaysian lawmaker Lim Guan Eng regarding Binance's peer-to-peer platform potentially facilitating ringgit transactions through advertisements listed under different currencies. Binance stated it had voluntarily disabled a specific Papua New Guinea kina marketplace on its P2P platform, which was unofficially pegged to the ringgit, as part of its engagement with regulators. The exchange maintained that the issue concerned an isolated advertisement and did not reflect a sustained effort to circumvent Malaysian law.