Kenanga Investment Bank Acquires Stake in Licensed Crypto Exchange

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media
OutReach – 8 February 2021 – Accelerating its digital agenda, Kenanga
Investment Bank Berhad via its wholly-owned
private equity arm, Kenanga Private Equity Sdn Bhd, today entered
into a conditional agreement to acquire 19.0% equity interest in Tokenize
Technology (M) Sdn Bhd (Tokenize Malaysia).

Datuk Chay Wai Leong, Group Managing Director, Kenanga Investment Bank Berhad

Operating under the brand, Tokenize Xchange, it is one of the three licensed
Digital Asset Exchanges (DAX) by the Securities Commission of Malaysia (SC),
and is currently the second largest DAX in the country by traded market
share. Tokenize Xchange is an online exchange that allows trading of
cryptocurrencies (crypto) such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, and operates 24X7,
whole year round.

 

“We have been building a digital ecosystem to offer our customers a wide
spectrum of financial products and services, including digital assets. The
emergence of digital assets including cryptocurrencies have been gaining
acceptance globally in the last few years. While we are keen on crypto as an
asset class, we are aware of the volatility and the proliferation of unregulated
players in the market. We are therefore very pleased to be given the
opportunity to invest in one of the three licensed digital asset exchanges in
Malaysia. We applaud the Securities Commission as one of the first in Asia to
introduce regulations in this area,” said Datuk Chay Wai Leong, Group Managing
Director of Kenanga Investment Bank Berhad.

 

Tokenize Xchange was initially launched in Singapore by tech savvy founder
Hong Qi Yu in 2018 and it has since captured a customer base of over 100,000.

 

Hong had later on set up Tokenize Malaysia to focus on the Malaysia
market. In June 2019, Tokenize Malaysia was awarded a Recognized Market
Operator (RMO) license to operate by SC and its platform, Tokenize Xchange, went
live on 1 April 2020.

 

“Our interest in digital assets goes beyond Bitcoin and other commonly
traded cryptocurrencies. We believe that the technology behind digital assets
is very powerful and the emergence of digital assets in the future is
inevitable. We are hopeful that fund raising through the tokenization of businesses
and assets will be a significant part of the capital markets in the future for
Malaysia. We believe that through Tokenize Malaysia we
can be a key player in the digital capital market space in Malaysia,” he added.

 

“We are very pleased to welcome onboard, Kenanga Investment Bank Berhad,
one of the leading investment banks in Malaysia, as a key investor. The
combined reach, expertise and resources is game-changing and will allow us to
scale our presence in Malaysia. Together we will shape the digital asset
landscape and build an exciting path forward for investors in the country,”
remarked Hong Qi Yu, Chief Executive Officer, Tokenize Malaysia.

 

Currently, the market capitalisation of the global crypto market stands
at USD1.007 trillion*, a spike of three folds from four months ago. Relative to
the global equity market capitalisation which is estimated to be nearly in the
hundred trillion worth, there is still ample upside to the crypto market.

 

This investment in Tokenize Malaysia adds to the line-up of digital
initiatives Kenanga Investment Bank has embarked on over recent years. This
includes the successful joint-venture, with Japan based Rakuten Inc, to
introduce the first fully online stock trading platform in Malaysia, Rakuten
Trade, which has since seen remarkable record volume growth.

 

It also recently acquired a stake in Merchantrade Asia Sdn Bhd
(Merchantrade), Malaysia’s leading e-money player and the country’s largest
Money Services Business operator, following Kenanga’s recent collaboration with
them to introduce Malaysia’s first stockbroker e-wallet, Kenanga Money. Kenanga
has also announced a partnership with award-winning digital supply chain
financing company, Bay Group Holdings Sdn Bhd, to transform the traditional
factoring market in Malaysia.  In the pipeline
this year is the rollout of a robo-advisory platform that will automate
investment portfolio for clients, taking another step closer towards the
creation of a robust ecosystem that provides complete and forward-facing
financial solutions to our customers.

For more information on Kenanga Investment Bank Behad,
please visit www.kenanga.com.my, and
for more on Tokenize Malaysia, www.tokenizemalaysia.com

*as of 2-Feb-21, according to coinmarketcap.com