Restriction on Crypto
Afghan security forces are going after cryptocurrency traders for dealing in what the country’s central bank now refers to as fraudulent digital currencies. The Taliban is pursuing cryptocurrency owners.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban government is reportedly detaining cryptocurrency traders who disobey instructions to halt dealing in digital assets, according to sources. A month after the nation’s central bank issued a blanket ban on cryptocurrency, there has been a crackdown. According to Herat police chief of criminal investigations Sayed Shah Saadat, the central bank handed them an order to restrict any money changers, individuals, and entrepreneurs from exchanging fake digital currencies like what is generally known as Bitcoin.
The Target of Economic Sanctions
Four of the six Afghan cryptocurrency exchanges are said to be located in Herat, the third-largest city in Afghanistan. According to Saadat, 13 persons had been detained and 20 cryptocurrency firms in the city had been shut down. Before the country’s central bank issued a general ban on the technology, demand for cryptocurrencies, especially stablecoins, was robust. They provide customers with a safe method of keeping money and a mechanism to transfer funds inside or outside of the nation. Cryptocurrencies known as stablecoins strive to maintain parity with officially recognized currencies like the U.S. dollar or the euro.
Since the 1990s, Afghanistan has been the target of harsh economic sanctions. Shortly after the Taliban captured Kabul and regained control, the Biden administration imposed further sanctions and seized more than $7 billion in Afghan treasury stored at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Afghanistan is hardly the only nation waging a fierce campaign against cryptocurrency. Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved laws making cryptocurrency transfers illegal in an effort to preserve the stability of the ruble. In the summer of 2021, China also famously outlawed the use of cryptocurrency and the mining of Bitcoin.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/08/29/afghanistan-waging-a-fierce-campaign-against-crypto/