According to a report given to the Sindh High Court, the State Bank of Pakistan and the federal government have decided to prohibit the usage of all cryptocurrencies (SHC).
This announcement comes after a protracted period of uncertainty over crypto-regulations. There are no laws or regulations in Pakistan that govern the usage of digital currencies for trade. At least, that’s how it’s been up until now.
However, the central bank has now adopted a firm stance on the usage of digital assets, which may be disheartening to some. It further urged the SHC to not only prohibit cryptocurrencies but also to penalize cryptocurrency exchanges.
A committee appointed by the Sindh High Court submitted the aforementioned report (SHC). The case gets hearing by a two-judge panel led by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha.
It’s worth noting that a final decision is yet without any Conclusion. The SHC directs that the committee deliver its report to the finance and law ministries for consideration at a combined meeting. Then a definitive decision on the legal status of cryptocurrencies could be actualize.
Sima Kamil, the Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, says in a statement that
“The only use of cryptocurrency in Pakistan seems to be speculative in nature where people”
” are being enticed to invest in such coin for the purpose of short-term capital gains.”
“This may result in the flight of precious foreign exchange”
“as well as the transfer of illicit funds from the country.”
“In view of this, the committee would like to make the above recommendation to the secretary ministry of finance.”
In addition, the research uncovered a few more interesting facts. It urged the court to prohibit cryptocurrency exchanges from conducting “unauthorized operations” and to penalize them “like some other countries have done.”
The SHC committee also recommends that cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance, OctaFX, and others be barred from operating in the country due to their unauthorized operations.
Binance has been the subject of an inquiry by the government. While investigating a scam, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) issued a notification to crypto-exchange Binance. The timing of the same is intriguing, especially as it coincided with the country’s growing crypto-traction.
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