Malaysia's dual-licensed digital asset exchange - built, in its founder's words, "the right way, with proper licensing." Buy, sell, stake and store crypto with the keys held inside the country.
When David Low left his job running Luno's Asia Pacific operation to start another crypto exchange, the obvious question was: why does Malaysia need one more? His answer was less about the product than the paperwork. Low - a qualified lawyer before he was a crypto executive - wanted to build an exchange that led with licensing rather than treating it as an afterthought.
Hata launched in May 2023 as one of Malaysia's newest regulated digital asset exchanges, and the first to receive full approval from the Securities Commission (SC) after the regulator reopened its licence window in late 2022. It is one of a small group of operators to hold two licences at once: the SC in mainland Malaysia and the Labuan Financial Services Authority offshore.
That dual footprint is the whole idea. It lets Hata run a compliant onshore exchange for everyday Malaysians while offering offshore and over-the-counter services through Labuan - and, crucially, it keeps customer assets custodied inside the country under a licensed local entity.
The approach is deliberately unglamorous. Where many exchanges compete on token counts and referral gimmicks, Hata's pitch is closer to plumbing: know where your assets live, know who is regulating them, and know what you pay. It charges no maker fee, with taker fees between 0.1% and 0.4% depending on 30-day volume.
Two years in, the strategy has numbers behind it. By the end of 2025 Hata had passed 209,000 registered users and processed RM1.04 billion in transaction volume - enough to attract Bybit, the world's second-largest exchange by volume, as a repeat backer.
Hata's growth reads like a compounding trust story. A US$4.2 million seed round in October 2024 helped it grow a user base across Asia; eighteen months later Bybit came back to lead an US$8 million Series A, joined by Singapore-based family offices. The new capital is earmarked for deeper liquidity, user growth and additional digital-asset products.
Assets under custody peaked at roughly RM115 million in September 2025 before settling near RM86 million - a reminder that in a regulated exchange, the balance sheet you can point to is part of the pitch.
Bybit participated in both rounds and led the Series A.
Buy, sell and trade 50+ cryptocurrencies - Bitcoin, Ethereum and more - against Malaysian fiat. No maker fee; taker fees of 0.1%-0.4% by 30-day volume.
Keys are held by Hata Digital Sdn Bhd, the SC-licensed entity, so your assets stay controlled inside Malaysia rather than offshore.
Earn on-platform staking rewards, launched starting with Solana (SOL).
Automate recurring buys with a dollar-cost-averaging tool for hands-off investing.
Over-the-counter trading for larger fiat-to-crypto transactions, including offshore OTC through the Labuan licence.
A revenue-sharing affiliate programme - described as the first of its kind among Malaysian exchanges.
A qualified lawyer and former General Manager of Luno's Asia Pacific business. Sets Hata's compliance-first direction.
A former university lecturer and blockchain-solutions co-founder who has helped launch licensed exchanges and payment rails across Southeast Asia.
Fifteen years in product and business roles at Nokia, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson and Huawei across China and Asia Pacific.
Team size: approximately 36 employees, headquartered in Kuala Lumpur with Labuan-registered operations.
Malaysia's regulated crypto market is small and licence-gated. Only a handful of exchanges hold SC approval - names like Luno Malaysia, SINEGY, MX Global and Tokenize Xchange. Hata was the fifth to be licensed, and it differentiates less on price and more on structure: dual regulation, in-country custody and a compliance stack that leans on analytics tools such as Chainalysis and Elliptic.
The result is a positioning that appeals to users who want the convenience of a modern app without wondering which jurisdiction their coins actually sit in. For larger clients, the Labuan licence opens an OTC and offshore lane that most onshore-only rivals cannot match.
Hata Digital Sdn Bhd goes live as one of Malaysia's newest regulated digital asset exchanges - the first fully approved after the SC reopened licence applications.
Operates under both the Securities Commission Malaysia and the Labuan Financial Services Authority.
Raises seed capital, with Bybit among participants, to grow its user base across Asia.
Adds staking (starting with Solana) and an Auto-Invest DCA tool; custody peaks near RM115 million in September.
Passes 209,000 registered users and RM1.04 billion in annual transaction volume.
Closes a Bybit-led Series A with Singapore family offices to deepen liquidity and ship new products.
Hata is a Malaysian dual-licensed digital asset exchange where users buy, sell, store and stake cryptocurrencies using fiat currency. It launched in May 2023 and is based in Kuala Lumpur.
Yes. Hata holds licences from both the Securities Commission Malaysia (as a Recognized Market Operator / Digital Asset Exchange) and the Labuan Financial Services Authority.
It was co-founded by David Low (CEO, formerly GM of Luno's Asia Pacific business), KK Chong (CTO) and Darien Ng (Chief Strategy Officer).
Roughly US$12.2 million in total - a US$4.2 million seed round in 2024 and an US$8 million Series A led by Bybit in April 2026.
Hata charges no maker fee; taker fees range from 0.1% to 0.4% depending on a user's 30-day trading volume.
Sources include Hata.io, PR Newswire, The Edge Malaysia, Digital News Asia, Fintech News Malaysia, FinSMES and Crowdfund Insider. Figures such as users, volume and custody are company-reported and approximate as of end-2025 / April 2026.