Malaysia may be the next country to legalize bitcoin and Amazon.com Inc. may be considering accepting bitcoin as a payment option, bringing positive news to a market still reeling from the decision by the Chinese central bank to ban all trading in the cryptocurrency Sept. 11.

Tan Sri Muhammad, the governor of Malaysia’s central bank, known locally as Bank Negara Malaysia, told reporters last week that the bank would be issuing guidelines on the use of digital currencies by the end of this year. “We hope to come out with guidelines on cryptocurrencies before the end of the year: in particular, those relating to anti-money laundering and terrorist financing,” local media quotes him as saying. “We want to ensure that there are clear guidelines for those who want to participate in this sector.”

The statement was surprising for local bitcoin followers given that the bank had previously warned against investing in cryptocurrencies, since bitcoin was not legally recognized in the country and was not regulated.

Within the region, neighboring Southeast Asian country Indonesia does not look like it will be following in Malaysia’s steps. Eny V. Panggabean, executive director of Bank Indonesia, reaffirmed that it continues to prohibit the use of bitcoin as a medium of exchange in the country. Even so, Topas TV, a major cable television provider in the country, announced Sept. 13 that it would start taking bitcoin payments for its services. 

While governments ponder legalization or continue to reaffirm existing bans on the use of bitcoin, larger e-commerce giants may not care. Speculation built over the weekend that Amazon.com Inc. was considering introducing support for bitcoin payments as soon as October. The initial report appears to have been published by Squawker.org, which quoted investor guidance from James Altucher, a hedge fund manager and venture capitalist.

In the alleged guidance, Altucher claimed that he is certain that Amazon will begin accepting bitcoin and could make the announcement during its next investor call scheduled for Oct. 26. Amazon has neither denied nor confirmed the claim.

It’s not impossible that Amazon may start accepting bitcoin payments, particularly given smaller competitors such as Overstock already do, but until such time the company says something on the record, this is nothing more than speculation.

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