FATF Rejects Pakistani Crypto Ban Comments

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The Minister of Finance and Taxation of Pakistan has announced that the country will ban cryptocurrencies in response to anti-money laundering requirements from the Financial Task Force (FATF). However, the FATF has denied these claims.

On May 17, Aisha Ghaus Pasha – Minister of Finance and Taxation of Pakistan announced in a meeting, that the country will issue a ban on crypto-related services to prevent transactions. illegal cryptocurrency exchange, and claims to never license cryptocurrencies prior to requests from the FATF.

However, in an email to Coindesk, FATF refuted Minister Pasha's claim that it "is not asking countries to indiscriminately ban virtual assets and virtual asset service providers" . The FATF requires countries to understand the money laundering and terrorist financing risks faced by the cryptocurrency sector, and to license or register exchanges to monitor the sector in the same way. they supervise other financial institutions.

The FATF also requires virtual asset service providers to take the same deterrents as other financial institutions, such as due diligence on customers, keeping records and reporting suspicious transactions, and complying with comply with the “travel rule” (requiring service providers to collect and share information about transactions that exceed a certain threshold).

The FATF declined to respond directly to Mr. Pasha's claims, but noted that "countries are allowed, but not required, to ban virtual assets and virtual asset service providers".

Mr. Pasha's statement is seen as a new ban on cryptocurrencies from the Pakistani government amid the country's economy is struggling, in part due to the volatile political situation.

Cryptocurrency in Pakistan

Pakistan's economy is in deep crisis and the country is engaged in intense negotiations on a bailout package with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). According to Bloomberg, the Pakistani rupee fell 3.3% to an all-time low.

Earlier in January 2022, the Central Bank of Pakistan planned to ban cryptocurrencies, which was also their first clear stance on this new financial technology.

According to CoinTelegraph, by 2021 Pakistani citizens are said to be holding $20 billion worth of cryptocurrency. The CEO of BlockTech Pakistan and over 20 million Pakistanis have opened accounts on various crypto platforms.

Synthetic PCB

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Disclaimer: The content above is only the author's opinion which does not represent any position of Followin, and is not intended as, and shall not be understood or construed as, investment advice from Followin.
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