Latest news with #ScarlettChai
Borneo Post
4 days ago
- Business
- Borneo Post
Bitcoin surpasses RM510,000 on Luno, as institutional demand continuously grows
The strong demand from investment firms and companies for Bitcoin exposure, be it direct purchases or ETFs, has created a recent uptick in the price. — AFP photo PETALING JAYA (July 15, 2025) : Bitcoin, the first and largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, has hit over half a million ringgit on Luno, as institutional demand continuously grows. The strong demand from investment firms and companies for Bitcoin exposure, be it direct purchases or ETFs, has created a recent uptick in the price. This is coupled by the US Federal Reserve's more dovish tone. This environment has supported greater investor risk appetite, benefifiting alternative assets like Bitcoin. In parallel, the rally triggered a short squeeze of over US$200 million, as traders who had bet against the asset were forced to buy back their positions, further accelerating the price momentum. Luno's country manager for Malaysia, Scarlett Chai, said, 'The crypto market has evolved so much in the past couple of years, largely led by Bitcoin. 'Today, despite the scepticism of the asset class, Bitcoin is the fififth largest asset by market cap after Apple – one of the world's most recognisable brands'. Bitcoin's bullish momentum has also led to a rally in other coins, known as altcoins, including Stellar (XLM), Alogrand (ALGO), and Hedera (HBAR), which have seen over a 50 per cent price increase in a week. These are among the altcoins Luno has proposed to the Securities Commission Malaysia that were aligned with the regulator's requirements. Of the three coins above, ALGO and HBAR were launched this year, part of Luno's effort in expanding the list of tradable digital assets in the country. Chai added, 'We've not seen a demand like this from institutions. Investors are optimistic about the US government's supportive stance toward crypto, which makes them confifident about Bitcoin's future'. Chai also cautioned investors of a possible rise in investment scams taking advantage of Bitcoin's reignited popularity. 'Steer clear of any investment schemes that seem too good to be true, especially if they're social media advertisements promising good returns. 'Regulated crypto exchanges will never engage third parties to facilitate the investment or trade on your behalf', she concluded.
New Straits Times
5 days ago
- Business
- New Straits Times
Bitcoin breaches RM500,000 on Luno platform as demand rises
KUALA LUMPUR: Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, has hit over half a million ringgit on Luno, as institutional demand continuously grows. According to Luno, the strong demand from investment firms and companies for Bitcoin exposure, be it direct purchases or ETFs, has created a recent uptick in the price. Luno said this is coupled by the US Federal Reserve's more dovish tone. "This environment has supported greater investor risk appetite, benefiting alternative assets like Bitcoin. "In parallel, the rally triggered a short squeeze of over US$200 million, as traders who had bet against the asset were forced to buy back their positions, further accelerating the price momentum," it said in a statement. Luno country manager for Malaysia Scarlett Chai said the crypto market has evolved so much in the past couple of years, largely led by Bitcoin. "Today, despite the scepticism of the asset class, Bitcoin is the fifth largest asset by market cap after Apple – one of the world's most recognisable brands," said Chai. Bitcoin's bullish momentum has also led to a rally in other coins, known as altcoins, including Stellar (XLM), Alogrand (ALGO), and Hedera (HBAR), which have seen over a 50 per cent price increase in a week. These are among the altcoins Luno has proposed to the Securities Commission that were aligned with the regulator's requirements. Of the three coins above, ALGO and HBAR were launched this year, part of Luno's effort in expanding the list of tradable digital assets in the country. "We have not seen a demand like this from institutions. Investors are optimistic about the US government's supportive stance toward crypto, which makes them confident about Bitcoin's future," Chai noted. Chai cautioned investors of a possible rise in investment scams taking advantage of Bitcoin's reignited popularity. "Steer clear of any investment schemes that seem too good to be true, especially if they are social media advertisements promising good returns. "Regulated crypto exchanges will never engage third parties to facilitate the investment or trade on your behalf", she added.
The Star
12-06-2025
- Business
- The Star
SC approves two more digital assets by Luno
Securities Commission Malaysia building at Kuala Lumpur. PETALING JAYA: The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has approved two more digital assets by Luno in its second batch of approvals this year. In a statement released, Luno, a global cryptocurrency investment app said its newest listed assets, Hedera (HBAR) and The Graph (GRT) will bring its total coin list to 22, the widest in Malaysia. Luno Malaysia country manager, Scarlett Chai said the additions will offer investors a chance to explore a broader part of the crypto ecosystem and diversify their portfolios safely and securely. She said among the key features of HBAR is that it is a high-performance, energy-efficient public network. 'It leverages hashgraph consensus for fast, secure, and low-cost transactions, with predictable fees and enterprise-grade governance, enabling sustainable and scalable decentralised applications (dApps),' she said. GRT on the other hand is a decentralised indexing protocol that enables efficient querying of blockchain data, making it easier for developers to build performant and reliable dApps across multiple blockchains. Meanwhile, Chai said the listing of both came about after a rigorous screening process which evaluates potential assets against strict technical, regulatory, and legal criteria to ensure their feasibility and suitability for introduction in Malaysia, as well as other markets across APAC, Europe, and Africa. 'Shortlisted coins are then proposed to the SC for a country-wide approval, allowing the Malaysian public to invest or trade the respective digital assets,' she said. So far, Luno has submitted more than 25 digital assets to the SC with 22 approved and available on the platform. Aside from HBAR and GRT, the platform launched Algorand, and NEAR Protocol, while expanding its staking service to include Polkadot, NEAR Protocol, and Cosmos.
The Sun
27-04-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Luno Malaysia adds Algorand and NEAR Protocol to its digital asset offerings
PETALING JAYA: Luno Malaysia has expanded its list of digital assets with the launch of two new coins – Algorand and NEAR Protocol. The launch is also the first batch of digital assets approved by the Securities Commission Malaysia this year for both Luno and the country. The two new coins bring Luno's digital asset offerings in Malaysia to 20. The widened offering enables investors to explore more of the crypto ecosystem and diversify their portfolios safely and securely. Algorand is an eco-friendly blockchain enabling fast, low-cost transactions and scalable, secure decentralised applications (dApps), aiming for a sustainable, borderless digital economy while NEAR Protocol is a fast, scalable blockchain with low-cost transactions, high throughput, and user-friendly tools for dApp development, focused on decentralisation and sustainability. Luno country manager for Malaysia, Scarlett Chai, said, 'In 2024, Luno led the approval of seven digital assets with the Securities Commission Malaysia. We aim to double that this year, starting with these two digital assets. The team is actively engaging the regulator to launch new digital assets expeditiously/' She said the addition of two new digital assets expands the platform's total assets to 20, while the recent milestone of surpassing one million customers reinforces Luno's position as Malaysia's leading regulated digital asset exchange. In addition to the launch of ALGO and NEAR, Luno is broadening its Staking feature to include NEAR in the coming weeks. NEAR Staking would allow customers to earn up to 7% per annum in passive rewards, which are earned daily. 'Our recent staking launch of Polkadot and the upcoming NEAR Protocol rearm Luno's commitment to growing Malaysia's digital asset landscape by not only making digital asset investments a safe and accessible option, but also being innovative by enabling our customers to grow their holdings,' said Chai. Today, Luno is the country's only regulated digital asset exchange, providing customers with staking services for Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, Polkadot and, soon, NEAR Protocol.
