Cryptocurrency investment surges in Afghanistan

Kabul: Crypto investment and mainly the Bitcoin adoptions have shot up in Afghanistan over the last year amid economic turmoil brought about by the Taliban, according to a report.

The South Asian Democratic Forum (SADF) said that it's interesting to stress that 'Bitcoin adoption in Afghanistan has shot up over the last year amid economic turmoil brought by the Taliban's takeover of the country'.

With the fall of the government in Afghanistan people started turning towards the crypto market as they faced financial difficulties.

In an attempt to save their assets Afghans started investing in the crypto market. Surely, the Taliban will notice the growing investment in the crypto market in Afghanistan, Siegfried O. Wolf said writing for SADF.

Faced with the country's uncertain financial situation, the rising crypto economy provides an opportunity for people to gain financial interest but there's also a threat of growing misuse of it. The misuse of the crypto market might push Afghanistan to become a launchpad for illegal (terror) activities in the digital space beyond terror financing purposes like cyber-attacks or online radicalisation campaigns, SADF added.

As China has vowed to have good relations with the Taliban -- and the terror group's all-weather ally Pakistan -- is a matter of additional concern as there are possibilities of technology transfer in future.

In June 2021, the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Week recognised that the pandemic enhanced opportunities for terrorist groups particularly to raise funds through online sources.

Siegfried O. Wolf further wrote that experts during the week expressed concerns that terrorists might 'seek more secretive mechanisms for financing their activities. Numerous actors involved in the set-up of the anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism provisions identify digital space's complex payment method as a serious threat scenario.