Afghanistan Closes Down 16 Cryptocurrency Exchanges, Arrests Operators

Law enforcement in Afghanistan has shut down over a dozen crypto exchanges in Herat, detaining the individuals who had been working them. The offensive comes after the introduction of a ban on on-line international alternate that the Taliban appear to have utilized to coin buying and selling as effectively.

Taliban Government Goes After Crypto Trading in Afghanistan Citing Scamming as Motive

Afghan safety forces have closed down quite a few crypto exchanges within the western Herat province prior to now week, the English-language Ariana News portal reported on Tuesday. At least 16 platforms buying and selling digital currencies have been shut down, the outlet unveiled.

The report quotes the top of the counter-crime unit of the Herat police Sayed Shah Sa’adat who reminded that Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), the nation’s financial authority, stated in a discover that crypto buying and selling had brought on a lot of issues, together with scamming folks. He additionally acknowledged:

We acted and arrested all of the exchangers concerned within the enterprise and closed their outlets.

Ghulam Mohammad Suhrabi, who leads the Herat Money Exchangers’ Union, defined that Afghan firms open cryptocurrency accounts exterior the nation. “This forex is new out there and has excessive fluctuation,” he famous.

The Afghan officers are most likely referring to a press release by the central financial institution in Kabul which, in response to a Bloomberg report from late June, declared that on-line foreign currency trading is in opposition to Islam and banned it. Through a spokesman, the regulator warned that anybody participating on this exercise would face prosecution. The financial institution’s consultant elaborated:

Da Afghanistan Bank considers on-line foreign currency trading unlawful and fraudulent, and there’s no instruction in Islamic legislation to approve it. As a outcome, we’ve banned it.

In mid-July, DAB issued one other assertion reinforcing the order, in response to Ariana News. The financial institution stated that Afghans, particularly within the capital metropolis, had been nonetheless buying and selling regardless of the prohibition. The authority emphasised it had not licensed any individual or firm to commerce on-line and those that proceed to take action had been breaking the legislation.

Following the return of the Taliban to energy in Kabul, Afghanistan’s weak financial system fell into an excellent deeper crisis. The U.S., which pulled out its forces in 2021, seized $10 billion of DAB’s property and imposed sanctions.

Financial restrictions and the withdrawal of Western firms made it more durable for the Afghan diaspora to ship cash house. As a outcome, many Afghans turned to crypto, which additionally helped them to protect their financial savings and stop potential seizure by the federal government.

Do you suppose Taliban-ruled Afghanistan will proceed to crack down on crypto alternate platforms? Share your ideas on the topic within the feedback part beneath.