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Pakistan, a country that has previously not specifically spoken out about its position on cryptocurrency, is now ready to announce a complete ban on its entire territory. That was recently announced by the government of the country.
It is worth noting that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has long been calling for tighter oversight of crypto activities, pointing out that digital assets have no legal status and are not subject to regulation, so they should be banned.
In addition, the country's main financial institution proposes to ban all Pakistani banks from carrying out any operations with cryptocurrency. Against the backdrop of possible innovations, the regulator intends to develop a unified system of penalties that will be applied to violating banks.
As of today, the government is considering all possible options for introducing this ban. Based on the official statement, the authorities indicate that digital assets are illegal and can be a good tool in illegal business for money laundering, as well as used in organizing terrorist attacks. The government also believes that the operation of some trading platforms poses a risk to investors, so it is necessary to prohibit any operations with cryptocurrency.
In this context, it should be emphasized that the court of one of the provinces of the country ordered the government of Pakistan to determine the legal status of cryptocurrency by the end of January 2022. Perhaps this was the impetus for considering this issue.
By the way, cryptocurrency is quite popular in the country, which is evidenced by the fact that, according to the latest estimates of analysts, last year the number of owners of digital assets increased by 711%. About $20 million is stored in e-wallets of Pakistanis.
Popular TV presenter and crypto investor Waqar Zaka spoke out against a possible decision to ban digital assets, noting that a fairly large number of residents have a stable income from trading cryptocurrencies.