Pakistan’s Central Bank Issues Ban Against Cryptocurrency Dealing

The Central Bank of Pakistan, also known as the State Bank of Pakistan has issued notice against the use of cryptocurrencies to carry out any dealings.

The Pakistani Central bank issued the notice about the crypto ban through a circular, revealing that it had decided to take a path similar to that pursued by its neighboring country, India which also banned cryptocurrencies. The announcement by the State Bank of Pakistan has warned payment providers in the country to avoid cryptocurrency-related operations, following decision to stamp the “illegal” status on cryptocurrencies.

The State Bank of Pakistan stated that digital currencies including Pakcoin, Onecoin, Litecoin, Bitcoin, and many other tokens in the market are not considered as legal tender in the country. This means that they are not accepted or viewed as safe for use by the government and should thus not be used in the market. The circular which was published on the website of Pakistan’s Central Bankstated that it does not authorize individuals or organizations to own, or trade any type of cryptocurrency.

So far there is no law governing the use of cryptocurrencies in Pakistan although authorities seem to be opposed to be opposed to cryptocurrencies especially Bitcoin. The country’s Federal Investigation Agency has previously carried out numerous operations against cryptocurrency traders and has recently been calling upon the government to declare cryptocurrencies illegal.

Following the ban by the SBP, the banks in the country have been encouraged to report any cryptocurrency-related transactions to the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU). Following the announcement, all transactions using digital currencies will be considered suspicious. The SBP has also warned the country’s citizens not to use cryptocurrencies to send money abroad and that anyone found to be doing so will be persecuted.

Muhammad Akhtar Javed, the acting director of the SBP signed the circular and urged banks operating in the country to acknowledge it.The notice against the use of cryptocurrencies also includes a ban on other crypto activities such as mining which has been one of the ways of making consistent revenue through the cryptocurrency market. Pakistan is now in the list of countries that have taken an aggressive stance against cryptocurrency-related activities.

The decision by Pakistan’s Central Bank also comes amid the ongoing poor performance of the cryptocurrency market. Major digital currencies such as Bitcoin have been lost a lot of value over the past two weeks.