Kenanga Investment Bank acquires 19% stake in Tokenize Xchange

By Edil Corneille

Kuala Lumpur-based Kenanga Investment Bank via its wholly-owned private equity arm, Kenanga Private Equity, entered into a conditional agreement to acquire 19% equity interest in Tokenize Malaysia.

Tokenize Xchange is an online exchange that facilitates the trading of cryptocurrencies. It is said to be one of the three licensed Digital Asset Exchanges (DAX) by the Securities Commission of Malaysia.

Tokenize Xchange was initially launched in Singapore by founder Hong Qi Yu in 2018. In June 2019, Tokenize Malaysia received their Recognized Market Operator (RMO) license to operate by SC and its platform, Tokenize Xchange, went live on 1 April 2020.

“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.

“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,” Datuk Chay Wai Leon 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.

This investment in Tokenize Malaysia adds to the line-up of digital initiatives the company has embarked on in recent years. This includes the joint-venture with Japanese company Rakuten to introduce a fully online stock trading platform in Malaysia, Rakuten Trade.

In the pipeline for Kenanga this year is the launch of a robo-advisory platform that aims at automating the investment portfolio for clients, moving closer to creating a robust ecosystem that provides complete financial solutions to their customers.