Bybit Leads $8M Hata Series A as Malaysia Pushes Regulated Stablecoins

Bybit has led an $8M Series A for Hata, Malaysia’s dual-licensed crypto exchange (SEC Malaysia and Labuan FSA). The Hata Series A also included global family offices and builds on Bybit’s prior $4.2M seed round. Funding from the Hata Series A will target three areas: improving liquidity, expanding users through marketing/ecosystem programs, and launching new digital asset products for Malaysian customers. Hata says it has 209,000+ registered users since launch (May 2023) and RM1.04B transaction volume in 2025. It also reports RM86.3M assets under custody (peaking around RM115M before later market corrections). The announcement lands alongside Malaysia’s regulatory acceleration. Bank Negara’s Digital Asset Innovation Hub sandbox is testing programmable payments, ringgit-backed stablecoins, and tokenisation use cases under central bank oversight. A separate three-year tokenisation roadmap is also progressing, including pilots for cross-border settlement using ringgit-backed stablecoins and tokenised bank deposits, with major institutions such as Standard Chartered, CIMB and Maybank involved. For crypto traders, the Hata Series A is a positive signal for compliant exchange infrastructure and regional liquidity access in Southeast Asia. However, it is unlikely to directly move major coins’ prices on its own—so expect more “infrastructure sentiment” than immediate spot upside.