State Bank of Pakistan bans the trade of Bitcoin and all other virtual currencies. Bitcoin is facing a great downfall in Asian countries. As, just after the yesterday’s report where India’s central bank banned to deal Cryptocurrency financial firms, now State Bank of Pakistan, country’s central bank has issued a recent notice to all banks, payment services providers and the general public not to buy or sell bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.
Yesterday SBP released a statement and it has declared that trading of Bitcoin, PakCoin (a local market coin), Lite Coin is against the law in Pakistan and they have not issued licenses for any of these entities.
As the SBP states,
“Virtual currencies/coins/tokens like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Pakcoin, OneCoin, DasCoin, Pay Diamond etc are neither recognized as a legal tender nor has SBP authorized or licensed any individual or entity for the issuance, sale, purchase, exchange or investment in any such currencies in Pakistan.”
On the other hand, State Bank of Pakistan has also issued a warning to banks and payment service providers not to offer any cryptocurrency or ICO related transactions.
The authority states,
“Banks/ DFIs/ microfinance banks and payment system operators/ payment service providers have been advised not to facilitate their customers/account holders to transact in virtual currencies/ initial coin offerings, tokens vide BPRD’s Circular No. 03 of 2018.”
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Now, after this announcement it is observed that local crypto exchanges have started following new rules. In this regard, Urdubit, a Cryptocurrency exchange has claimed that it will shut down. The company was launched back in 2014.
It is pertinent to mention here that “Urdubit” was the very first bitcoin exchange platform to open its doors in Pakistan. The decision of backing out was announced via its Facebook page, advising its customers to “please withdraw your funds as soon as possible.”
In the meantime, the State Bank has also warned the people using such currencies for transferring value outside Pakistan that these people are subject to trial as per the applicable laws.
SBP has clearly declared in its circular that these entities are not considered as “Legal Tender” and according to the central bank
“No entity is currently licensed or authorized by SBP to offer money remittance services and products in Pakistan using virtual currencies/ coins/tokens.”
The recent fall in the prices of digital currencies is the result of harsh statements and regulations issued by various government authorities around the world including India, China and Pakistan.
