• Pakistan Minister of State for Finance Aisha Ghaus stated that the Asian country cannot legalize cryptocurrency trading due to its recent removal from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) “Grey List.“
• The FATF imposed strict conditions on using cryptocurrencies, which made it difficult for the country to legalize it.
• The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) also said that cryptocurrency was not a legal tender or backed by the government.
Pakistan Cannot Legally Trade Cryptocurrency
Pakistan Minister of State for Finance Aisha Ghaus recently stated that the Asian country cannot legally trade in cryptocurrency due to its recent removal from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) „Grey List.“ The FATF had previously imposed strict conditions on using cryptocurrencies, making it difficult for the country to legalize it. Additionally, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has also declared that cryptocurrency is not a legal tender or backed by the government.
Pakistan Removed From FATF’s Grey List
Pakistan was removed from FATF’s grey list in October 2022 after being added in 2018. The minister noted that this removal was preceded by strict conditions set out by FATF regarding crypto transactions in order to curb money laundering and other illicit use. This included their controversial „travel rule“ which required countries to collect and share information regarding crypto transactions.
SBP Stance Against Crypto
The stance taken by SBP against cryptocurrency further consolidates Aisha Ghaus‘ statement as they have declared time and time again that cryptocurrency is not a legal tender nor is it backed by any government institution. As such, there are no plans to make any changes towards legalizing crypto trading within Pakistan at this moment in time.
Rising Crypto Ownership In Other Countries
While Pakistan looks unlikely to embrace digital currencies anytime soon, other countries have seen an increase in crypto ownership as inflation skyrockets amidst global economic turmoil caused by Covid-19 pandemics and other factors. This includes Turkey, Argentina and Philippines where citizens look towards cryptocurrencies as an alternative store of value as fiat currencies fail them during these trying times.
Celsius & Fahrenheit Auction Concludes
Lastly, Celsius could potentially sell its assets to top bidder Fahrenheit as their auction concluded recently while Citadel Securities accused ex-employees of launching a competing crypto firm with stolen trade secrets after Uniswap governance members sought to launch on Base – Coinbase’s layer 2 platform – following SEC deeming Filecoin a security and asking Grayscale to withdraw trust registration