thecoinrise.com
In the wake of a market crisis that lost $2 trillion in value and sent some well-known companies into bankruptcy, nations from Singapore to the United States are tightening cryptocurrency regulations, but outright bans are much less common. Afghanistan has now joined China in banning cryptocurrency transactions.
An anonymous senior police officer revealed that the Central Bank of Afghanistan has imposed a nationwide ban on digital assets and the Taliban has reportedly detained multiple dealers who disobeyed the orders to stop crypto trading.
According to a recent report by Bloomberg, head of criminal investigations at the police headquarters in Herat, Sayed Shah Saadaat, revealed:
“The central bank gave us an order to stop all money changers, individuals, and businesspeople from trading fraudulent digital currencies like what is commonly referred to as Bitcoin.”
Afghanistan intensifies scrutiny on crypto industry
In Herat, Afghanistan’s third-largest city and a center for trading in digital tokens, more than 20 crypto-related firms have been shut down, according to Saadaat, who also reported that 13 persons were arrested, the majority of whom were released on bail. Nearly 75 miles (121 kilometers) from the Iranian border, in the city, there are four of six crypto brokerages in Afghanistan.
As several Afghans started using cryptocurrencies as a tool to protect their wealth and keep it out of the Taliban’s hands, the government opted to crackdown on the industry. In order to move money in and out of the nation, which is cut off from the international financial system as a result of sanctions imposed on the militant group, cryptocurrency has grown in popularity.
According to a report published last year by the blockchain research company Chainalysis, Afghanistan is among the top 20 nations in the world for cryptocurrency adoption. The ranking of the results was done by purchasing power parity per capita in favor of less developed countries.
Despite Taliban’s tough stance toward the industry, several Muslim-majority nations are taking a linient approach. For example, United Arab Emirates authorities hinted at their plans to bring crypto-friendly regulations to boost crypto growth in the region, as TheCoinRise reported.