Islamabad: The government has decided to ban cryptocurrency services on the internet in order to control cryptocurrency and mitigate potential risks associated with it.
In a meeting of the Senate Committee on Finance, officials shared that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Ministry of Information Technology (IT) have initiated measures to prohibit cryptocurrency within the country.
Aisha Ghaus Pasha, Minister of State for Finance, stated unequivocally that cryptocurrency will never be legalized in Pakistan, and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has also imposed certain conditions regarding its regulation. The government will not grant permission for the use of cryptocurrencies in the country.
SBP officials highlighted that the cryptocurrency market has witnessed a significant decline, decreasing from a value of $2.8 trillion to $1.2 trillion. They emphasized that cryptocurrency is a highly speculative and volatile form of currency, prone to fraudulent activities. Consequently, the government has deemed it unfit for use within Pakistan.
Senator Saleem Mandviwalla further commented that significant amounts of money have been invested in cryptocurrencies from Pakistan, underlining the growing interest and participation of Pakistani investors in this domain.
The State Bank officials also revealed that they are actively investigating and taking action against Pakistani investments in cryptocurrencies through the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). They further stated that over 16,000 different cryptocurrencies have been created within the crypto market.
