Bitcoin News and Finance Pakistan Government Not Against Crypto Investments, High Court Calls for Regulations Skip to main content

Pakistan Government Not Against Crypto Investments, High Court Calls for Regulations

Pakistan Government Not Against Crypto Investments, High Court Calls for Regulations

The executive power will not oppose cryptocurrency investments, a high-ranking government official has told lawmakers in Pakistan. The statement comes as a regional high court has urged the federal government to regulate cryptocurrencies and formed a committee to look into the matter in the coming months.

Minister Says Pakistan Government Has No Objection to Investments in Crypto

Addressing members of the National Assembly this week, Pakistan’s Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Ali Muhammad Khan, recognized cryptocurrency as a new concept. He then noted that the government did not have any objection if the Pakistani youth would take the opportunity to invest through this new technology.

Khan made the comments on Wednesday in response to a calling attention notice in the lower house of parliament regarding the absence of a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies in the country, the Daily Times reported. The minister explained that the government did not oppose their regulation but pointed out that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had some reservations that needed to be addressed.

Pakistan Government Not Against Crypto Investments, High Court Calls for Regulations

The government official revealed that the monetary authority is currently reviewing the matter which should be referred to the Finance Committee. “The SBP was saying we should move forward in this regard very carefully,” Ali Khan added.

The change in course comes three years after the State Bank of Pakistan introduced a cryptocurrency ban. In a circular released in the spring of 2018, the SBP stated that virtual currencies like bitcoin, pakcoin, onecoin and tokens from initial coin offerings are not legal tender and prohibited all dealings with them including holding, transferring, and trading.

At the time, the bank further emphasized that no entity or individual was authorized to issue, buy, sell, or exchange the digital coins. But in April of this year, the head of the SBP, Reza Baqir, said that the regulator was studying cryptocurrencies and their potential for bringing transactions taking place off the books into a regulatory framework.

Regional High Court Orders Government to Report on Crypto Regulations

Again on Wednesday, the Sindh High Court, the highest judicial authority in the southeastern Pakistani province, urged the government in Islamabad to adopt cryptocurrency regulations. It also formed a committee headed by the federal finance secretary and tasked it with producing a report on the matter within the next three months.

During a hearing of a petition challenging the crypto ban, the court insisted steps should be taken to regulate cryptocurrencies in consultation with all stakeholders, including the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), the SBP, the Ministry of Law and Justice, and the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication. According to a report by the Express Tribune, the proceedings were attended by members of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), SBP, and the petitioners.

Pakistan Government Not Against Crypto Investments, High Court Calls for Regulations

The publication also informed of another crypto-related case that had been heard at the Lahore High Court with the participation of legal representatives of several interested parties such as the SECP, SBP, FIA, and the federal government. The English-language daily revealed that the court sought assistance from the institutions on the subject, asking them to present relevant legal positions.

As the popularity of cryptocurrencies increases globally, many Pakistanis have turned their attention to these assets as well. The newspaper points to the large number of social media groups explaining how to buy, trade, and mine crypto as Youtube videos in Urdu devoted to bitcoin have hundreds of thousands of views. More and more traders from Pakistan are using online cryptocurrency exchanges and crypto applications often have more downloads than the apps of the country’s largest banks.

Do you expect Pakistan to adopt crypto-friendly regulations in the near future? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Custodial Lightning Network Service Attack Discovered by LN ‘Newbie’ — Hacker Strikes 6 LN Custodians

On September 18, a Redditor posted to the r/bitcoin forum and explained how he discovered a way to “attack [the] lightning Network’s custodial services.” The Reddit account dubbed “Reckless Satoshi” wanted to figure out if a “discrepancy between real routing fees and service’s transaction fee can be exploited for a profit.” The researcher disclosed that he wanted to see how large the damage could be and said “it is bad.” 6 Lightning Network Custodial Services Attacked, Researcher Discloses Findings to Offenders Prior to Public Disclosure A Redditor called Reckless Satoshi published a disclosure post on r/bitcoin this past Saturday and disclosed how he had found a vulnerability with routing fees and some of the Lightning Network’s custodial services. The research attack was done in good faith and after it was complete he disclosed the bugs to the offending services before publishing his findings. Reckless Satoshi used the Lightning Network (LN) attack on six different services incl...

Axie Infinity Down 40% Since Last Week’s Price High, Protocol Revenue Outshines Competitors

Last week, the game token leveraged within the Axie Infinity gaming universe skyrocketed to all-time highs, while other crypto markets remained extremely lackluster. During the last seven days, Axie Infinity’s platform token has dropped significantly in value shedding more than 12%. Meanwhile, the game platform’s smooth love potion token has slid over 8% over the last 24 hours. Axie Infinity Down More Than 40% Since All-Time High Not too long ago, the axie infinity (AXS) token was a topical conversation because it reached an all-time high on July 15. At the time, AXS managed to capture $28.93 per unit and since then it has shed 12.8% during the last seven days. The axie infinity (AXS) token is used within the blockchain-based game that involves battles between token-based creatures called “Axies.” AXS is used for the game’s governance system as well as other actions within the game. At the time of writing axie infinity (AXS) is exchanging hands for $16.70 per coin. AXS/USD on Ju...

Play-to-Earn Game From Polker (PKR) Exchange Listing – Endorsed by Akon

The Play-to-Earn NFT based Polker.Game ‘s native token $PKR has been officially listed on the popular centralized exchange BitMart. Polker.game has been in the spotlight recently as Akon, the American R&B superstar and record producer gave his official endorsement of polker stating that the “game is revolutionary” and that Polker is “hands down.. the best play to earn, NFT game in the space.”. With the BitMart listing and celebrity endorsement from Akon, Polker is perfectly positioned to become a major player in the Play-to-Earn league. Watch Akon’s Video Here What is Play-to-Earn? Although not a new concept, play-to-earn has become a trending term due to the popularity of the NFT game AXIE infinity. In the past, previous play-to-earn games have also achieved success – however, thanks to the huge amount of development in the blockchain space in recent years the gaming experience is now massively improved. Play-to-Earn games are essentially free to play and open to anyone and...

China to Crack Down on Copyright Infringement Through NFTs

Authorities in China are going after creators of digital collectibles based on other people’s works of art, the use of which was not authorized. The government offensive is part of a campaign to combat online copyright infringement and piracy with the participation of several departments. Regulators in China Move to Strengthen Copyright Supervision of Online Platforms The National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) has recently launched a campaign against copyright infringement and piracy on the internet, together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and the State Internet Information Office of the People’s Republic. A major objective of the initiative is to improve copyright supervision of online businesses by investigating cases involving the sale and distribution of infringing products on short video, live broadcast and e-commerce platforms, and promptly dealing with infringing content, the agency announced in a press r...
Blogarama - Blog Directory