Finance Secretary Imdadullah Bosal on Thursday said that the ban on cryptocurrency was still in place across Pakistan, stressing the need for its regulation.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) does not recognise crypto assets, which are digital currencies in which transactions are verified and recorded by a decentralised system. The SBP issued a formal notice in 2022 advising the general public to be cautious of and refrain from trading cryptocurrencies.

During today’s meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance, PPP MNA Sharmila Farooqi introduced a bill on digital currency regulations, prompting different remarks from committee members.

“There are no regulations for cryptocurrency,” Farooqui said, adding that since Pakistan was moving towards digital currency, cryptocurrency should be decentralised.

She highlighted Pakistan’s exit from the ‘grey list’ of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) — a global money laundering and terrorism financing watchdog — and said, “How will Pakistan protect cryptocurrency from money laundering?”

In 2018, Pakistan was placed on the so-called ’

© Dawn Business