Report contents
APAC · Emerging
Malaysia
Crypto Livability Index 2025·data to 31 Dec 2025
Scoreboard
Five pillars, then the 22 sub-pillars scored 0 to 4. Empty sub-scores are held out of the total, not zeroed.
The number behind the rank
| Raw capability score | 58 / 84 |
| P2P liquidity bonus (tie-breaker) | +2 |
| Inflation 1.9% · unbanked 11% · remittances 0.4% GDP · capital controls 0.58 · sanctions 0 | CNI 0.150 |
| Need multiplier | ×0.724 |
| Livability score | 0.500 |
Raw 58/84 = 0.690 capability. Crypto-Necessity Index 0.15, from five components: inflation 1.9% (three-year average 2023 to 2025), unbanked 11% of adults, remittances 0.4% of GDP, capital-control intensity 0.58 (KAOPEN 2023), sanctions exposure 0. Need multiplier ×0.72. Livability score 0.500, rank #25 of 79.
Three findings
One of the strongest regulation scores in the index: 16/20
Malaysia ties Switzerland, the UAE, Georgia and Thailand on the regulation pillar, with a 0% capital-gains regime, Securities Commission licensing of digital-asset exchanges, payment-in-kind acceptance of crypto salary, and standard FATF-aligned KYC. The rulebook is mature and balanced, and the rank barely moves between the rails and livability tables, a sign of a settled, moderate market.
Deep rails to buy, almost none to spend in person
Gift-card coverage is a top score on a catalogue exceeding 100 brands anchored by Touch n Go and the Grab ecosystem, but direct merchant acceptance is a handful, utility-bill payment is 0, and Bybit and Binance are both barred by the regulator. The licensed framework deliberately silos crypto trading from payment services.
A built-up infrastructure base with little structural pull
Internet penetration is 98% and smartphone ownership clears the top tier, yet the Crypto-Necessity Index is only 0.15: inflation 1.9%, remittances 0.4% of GDP, and Malaysia functions as a net sender to Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nepal. Capability is high; the survival-demand signal is low.
In one line
"Malaysia has one of the most balanced crypto rulebooks anywhere: zero tax on gains, clear licensing, salaries payable in kind. It is easy to buy and hold here, and deliberately hard to spend at the till."
Watch in 2026
Trajectory 3/4, trending liberalising. The Securities Commission ran two simultaneous consultations in mid-2025, Consultation Paper 3/2025 to broaden the exchange and token-listing framework and a tokenised capital-market-products paper, alongside a central-bank digital-asset innovation sandbox. Exchange-led listing autonomy is slated to take effect in 2026, the concrete reform to watch.