Recently there has been a significant increase in cryptocurrency mining activities in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Minister of State for Finance Ayesha Ghosh Pasha said that both the State Bank of Pakistan and the Ministry of IT have initiated measures to ban cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrencies have been banned in Pakistan as per the decision of the Senate Standing Committee on Financial Affairs. According to Pakistani MP and former Finance Minister, Salim Mandviwala, a significant amount of Pakistan’s wealth, amounting to billions of dollars, is held in cryptocurrencies. However, officials of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) believe that cryptocurrency is a means of fraud, which will never be accepted in the country.
These officials have further stated that Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) are taking stringent measures to deal with investments made by Pakistani individuals in cryptocurrencies.
Minister of State for Finance in Pakistan Ayesha Ghosh Pasha has made it clear that the government has no intention of legalizing cryptocurrencies in the country. Pasha said that both the SBP and the Ministry of Information Technology have initiated measures to enforce the ban on cryptocurrencies. Additionally, Pasha mentioned that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has imposed certain conditions regarding the matter, stressing that cryptocurrencies cannot be allowed.
FATF is a global body that regulates and monitors money laundering and terrorist financing.
Mandviwala expressed concern over the huge amount of Pakistani rupees trapped in crypto currency. In response, officials from the State Bank of Pakistan, the Central Bank of Pakistan, noted that the FIA and FMU are actively addressing the issue.
It is worth noting that there has been a significant surge in cryptocurrency mining activities in Pakistan recently, despite a ban on cryptocurrency trading and mining in the country in 2018.
Pakistan has decided to block all internet-based services related to cryptocurrencies within the country. The government of Pakistan has said that the measure is aimed at tackling illegal transactions involving digital currencies in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the FATF. In fact, FATF had imposed a condition on Pakistan that cryptocurrencies should never be legalized in the country.
Sohail Javed, director of the State Bank of Pakistan, agreed with this view, stressing the significant risks associated with cryptocurrencies. He pointed out that the cryptocurrency market, which was once worth $2.8 trillion, has now shrunk to $1.2 trillion.