Taliban ban crypto in Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s central bank imposed a nationwide ban on cryptocurrencies this month and the Taliban regime has arrested several dealers who defied orders to stop trading digital tokens, according to a senior police official, Report informs referring to Bloomberg.

The crackdown comes after some Afghans turned to cryptocurrencies to preserve their wealth and keep it out of the Taliban’s reach.

Crypto has become a popular way of moving money in and out of the country, which is shut off from the global banking system due to sanctions leveled on the militant group.

While countries from Singapore to the US are tightening crypto regulations in the wake of a market crash that wiped out some $2 trillion of wealth and drove several high-profile firms into bankruptcy, outright bans are much rarer. Afghanistan now joins China, which declared all crypto transactions illegal in September 2021.

“The central bank gave us an order to stop all money changers, individuals, and businesspeople from trading fraudulent digital currencies like what is commonly referred to as Bitcoin,” Sayed Shah Saadaat, head of criminal investigations at the police headquarters in Herat, said by phone.

Saadaat said 13 people were arrested, most of whom were released on bail, while more than 20 cryoto-related businesses have been shut down in Herat, Afghanistan’s third-largest city and a hub for trading in digital tokens. Four of the six crypto brokerages in Afghanistan are located in the city, some 75 miles (121 kilometers) away from the Iranian border.