Cryptocurrency will Never be Legalized in Pakistan: Aisha Pasha

Minister of State for Finance Dr Aisha Ghaus Pasha revealed that the government would never legalise cryptocurrency in the country. A meeting of the Senate’s standing committee on finance was told that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Ministry of Information and Technology had started work on banning the cryptocurrency to discourage its usage.

Ms Pasha further revealed that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had also ‘recommended’ imposing a ban on the currency.

Cryptocurrency will Never be Legalized in Pakistan: Aisha Pasha

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On the other hand, SBP officials said the global cryptocurrency market had shrunk from US$2.8 to US$1.2. Moreover, it was a high-risk currency involving a higher degree of fraud. “Pakistan will never allow its usage,” officials added.

Senator Saleem Mandvivala said Pakistan had invested billions of dollars in the crypto market.

The SBP went on to say that the FIA had been investigating the Pakistani investment into the currency adding that as many as 16,000 cryptocurrencies had erupted in the country.

Pakistan has seen a boom in trading and mining cryptocurrency, with interest increasing in thousands of views of related social media videos and online exchange transactions.

Cryptocurrency mining flourished in Pakistan until April 2018 when the government banned trading and mining virtual currencies. There is still a growing mining industry despite the fact that many mining farms have been shut down since this ban was implemented.

Most exchanges operate through ghost partners and never show on the regulatory radar. However, the government has been making continuous efforts to stop crypto trading.

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