The Taliban government has imposed a total ban on cryptocurrencies in Afghanistan and has begun arresting Afghans still trading cryptos.
Sayed Shah Saadaat, Head of Criminal Investigations at the Herat police headquarters, disclosed to reporters that Afghanistan’s central bank has imposed a nationwide ban on cryptocurrencies this month.
“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,” Saadaat said.
He further added that about 13 people were arrested, most of whom were released on bail, and at least 20 crypto-related businesses have been shut down in Herat.
Reports suggest that most Afghans resorted to the use of cryptocurrencies to make transactions in the country after the Taliban took over Afghanistan and world powers shut the government off from accessing SWIFT, the global banking system, in line with sanctions imposed on the militant group.
The United States stopped the transfer of dollars to Afghanistan’s central bank and seized the country’s assets worth $7.1 billion. French and Polish firms printing Afghan currency also stopped shipments at the start of the Taliban’s takeover.
The Taliban had earlier said in February that they would consider whether digital tokens are legal under Islamic Financial practices.
The ban means Afghanistan now joins China in the list of countries that have banned the use of cryptocurrencies.
