ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: There is no law that specifically allows or bans the use of cryptocurrencies in Pakistan, the National Assembly was told on Monday.
In a written reply to a question by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) lawmaker Muhammad Afzal Khokhar, the Minister for Finance and Revenue told the House that the existing legal framework in Pakistan does not explicitly address the subject of cryptocurrencies.
However, the regulator the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) issued guidelines vide BP RD Circular No. 03 of 2018 dated April 06, 2018 and FE Circular No. 03 of 2018 dated April 18, 2018 to its reporting entities regarding the prohibition of dealing in Virtual Currencies/tokens.
In addition, the State Bank of Pakistan also issued a caution letter regarding the risks of Virtual Currencies for general public awareness vide ERD/M&PRD/P/01/2018-31 dated April 06, 2018.
The minister further said that the issue regarding the booking of individuals involved in the Bitcoin business does not fall under the purview of the SBP.
However, the SBP requires its reporting entities to not facilitate their customers to transact in virtual currencies/tokens.
The Minister for Finance and Revenue told that any transaction in this regard is immediately reported to the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) as a suspicious transaction.
