KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia Bhd has dismissed the idea of having cryptocurrency on its multi-asset exchange.
Bursa Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift said the exchange looked into cryptocurrency offering, along with exchange traded fund (ETF), and chose not to go down that road as it was not in line with its goals.
Bursa Malaysia's goals revolve around its tagline of creating opportunities and growing value.
Umar stressed that cryptocurrency does neither.
"Cryptocurrency is not a real asset, it does not have any intrinsic value. The exchange is designed to help people raise capital and it is not just about trading.
"All our products come back to the real economy. I do not have that call for crypto. That is why we do not do it, crypto is just crypto."
This was why cryptocurrency will not be a part of its stable of new asset classes.
"Our purpose is to help companies raise capital, expand, employ people and make profit. Crypto does not do that, it does not fulfil that basic premise. It is trading for the sake of trading.
"I understand people are attracted to it but we get back to our purpose, and our purpose in the bigger market," he said.
The world's largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, has surged to record highs this year after the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved spot bitcoin ETFs in January.
As a multi-asset exchange, Bursa Malaysia has Bursa Carbon Exchange, a syariah-compliant multi-environmental product exchange that trades carbon credits via standardised carbon contracts.
It also has Bursa Gold Dinar for gold investments, and BR Capital which aims to bridge the fundraising gap by providing additional fundraising avenues for eligible issuers.