Malaysia Minute: Chainalysis Finds its Way in the Land of Crypto Scams

A 54-year-old businessman gets caught out in shady crypto investment schemes, new digital asset products find its way into the market in the form of MX Global & Halogen Capital, and Chainalysis continues its growth path towards cyber-sleuthing dominance.

, and Neil Liew

22 July 2023 . 12:17 PM

2 min read

Crypto investment scams continue to plague the country

A 54-year-old businessman based in Perak lost RM 870,000 in a cryptocurrency investment scam. The victim had since lodged a police report on the matter against a woman who had contacted him through WhatsApp, to which she claimed she had made a large profit after investing in crypto scheme.

According Perak police chief Comm Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri, the victim had initially invested RM500 and doubled his money to which he received. The victim was then told to invest a larger amount, to which he made several transactions amounting to RM870,000 after he was promised a profit of about RM1.5 million.

However when the victim started asking about withdrawals, the woman started making excuses which prompted the victim to lodge the report.

The police are now investigating the case under Section 420 of the Penal code where if the suspect is found 'cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property', the suspect would be punished with imprisonment for up to ten years, whipping, and also be liable to fine.

Commissioner Mohd Yusri had since reminded the public to "never ever believe schemes that offer unbelievable returns in a short span of time" and that people must always invest in platforms registered with Bank Negara and the Securities Commission Malaysia.

Malaysia capital markets welcomes its first licensed digital asset fund manager, Halogen Capital. The company regulated by the Securities Commission Malaysia, joins the battlefield for Malaysian market share with its first Shariah compliant income fund. Though the fund has yet to launch its Bitcoin and Ethereum fund, they are currently offering bespoke private funds for institutions, high net worths (HNW) and family offices.

Our conversation with the team lead to them sharing their goals towards bridging Web2 money into Web3. However, as its early days, they are building the necessary pipe work in order to turn to those dreams into fruition.

One step ahead of them, is digital asset exchange MX Global, as they drive their user acquisition strategies for their newly launched mobile app. The app which launched in late June, is offering a referral program for new users according to its website.

While these two companies aim to attract more liquidity from the retail market, it remains to be seen if crypto investment products can attract new users given its high knowledge barrier and negative sentiment against crypto.

As it stands, they now compete within a highly competitive landscape governed by DAX and Fintech overlords, all of which compete for the same financial pie.

Chainalysis Continues Growth Path

Chainalysis makes waves this week as they announce a partnership with Web3 agency Lydian Labs. In a private launch party of about 40 people, they announced that the partnership would towards educating and providing services within the verticals of Web3 tech, marketing and consulting.

In the very same week, Chainalysis presented a seminar on cyber crime and security to lawyers at the Bar Council Malaysia. While the presentation was mostly an education primer for the uninitiated, they highlighted important points that;

1) Under declaration of crypto assets to the tax man is a global phenomenon. (around 10% of assets are declared globally)‌‌‌‌

2) There is hungry demand from family offices that need legal council on extracting and realising yields with digital assets.