NFTs in M’sia this week: A minister’s proposal to legalise NFTs, rejected by another

Previously, we shared how Astro’s esports arm is joining hands with a Singaporean game studio to launch a P2E game, and introduced a startup that aims to help SMEs join the metaverse through B2B solutions.

This week, it looks like the government is eyeing involvement in the NFT space too.

A proposal to legalise NFTs in Malaysia… and a shutdown days later

After Singapore’s finance ministry announced that it will introduce taxes on NFT trading last week, it appears that our own government is considering involvement in the unregulated world of NFTs.

On March 21, Malaysia’s Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Ministry has proposed for NFTs and crypto mining activities to be legalised. 

The ministry will look into ways to increase the youth’s involvement in digital assets and crypto, according to Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin, the Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister.

He added that crypto activities are under the purview of Bank Negara Malaysia, and the country’s Securities Commission.

This statement came as a response at the Dewan Rakyat where a question was posed asking about the government’s stance on trading on NFT platforms which are becoming more popular in the country.

But on March 24, Deputy Finance Minister Shahar Abdullah shot down any potential of Malaysia recognising cryptocurrency as legal tender. He reasoned that they were too volatile and at risk of hacking, among other limitations.

ICYMI: there are at least six local NFT platforms

It’s true that the popularity of NFT platforms and marketplaces is growing. While names like OpenSea and Binance are huge globally recognised players, Malaysians are also making strides to promote local art and their artists to the world.

The six local platforms we found come with varied standout points too. For example, Pentas.io boasts a thorough verification process, NFTapir offers gas-free minting, and Artlab lets you purchase physical artworks with an NFT attached.

These marketplaces usually function on the Binance Smart Chain, Polygon, and Ethereum blockchain. More often than not, you’ll still need a crypto wallet like MetaMask to mint, sell, and buy NFTs on these marketplaces.

Another local P2E game is in the works

We’ve mentioned earlier that Astro’s esports arm is working on a P2E game. Named Buddy Beaters, it’s set to launch in May.

It looks like Buddy Beaters won’t be the only P2E game Malaysians (and the global community) can look forward to this year. Currently being developed by a Malaysian and Indonesian studio, League of Ancients (LOA) is being primed for a launch by the end of 2022.

Inspired by Dota2 and League of Legends, LOA is will be an esports-oriented, free-to-play, play-to-earn, 5v5 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game. LOA will function on the Binance Smart Chain where users can earn tokens when they win a battle.

The tokens can then be used to buy new items or skins, which are the in-game NFTs that can then be traded on external NFT marketplaces for crypto or real-world money.

In fact, LOA will launch its own marketplace for players to transact their NFTs, thus building an ecosystem for its very own metaverse, or the League of Ancients MOBAverse, as it’s called.  

At the moment, LOA already has a significant fanbase, with over 191K followers on Twitter, and almost 90K members on its Discord server. According to LOA’s team, the game has sold over 150K NFTs, where one of the project’s rarest tier Immortal skin was sold out within five seconds of its public sale.

There’s no question that LOA could potentially grow into something as big as Axie Infinity one day, giving Malaysians a local homegrown game to be proud of.

Featured Image Credit: 123rf / League of Ancients / 123rf