Islamabad: A committee formed by the Sindh High Court in its report submitted to the court recommending a “complete ban” on all cryptocurrencies in the country, officials said.
The committee identified several risks related to cryptocurrency and made two key recommendations including “complete ban on all cryptocurrencies and other related activities in the country” and to impose ban and penalties on unauthorised operations of crypto exchanges. The committee raised concerns about the connection of cryptocurrency with money laundering and terror financing.
The judges on Wednesday directed the committee to send its report to the ministries of law and finance to consider the recommendations and take a final decision on the status of cryptocurrency in Pakistan as well as its framework if allowed.
The committee was headed by State Bank of Pakistan Deputy governor Sima Kamil, and included representatives from finance division, Information Technology ministry, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, director general of Financial Monitoring Uniy and petitioner Waqar Zaka to review the legal status of cryptocurrencies under Pakistan laws.
$100m Binance-linked scam
The suggestions by the committee came amid a $100 million scam in Pakistan in which Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, is involved. Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has sent an inquiry to Binance as part of a criminal investigation into a scam that allegedly used Binance wallets and integrated applications to defraud about $100 million from Pakistani users.
“An online financial scam took place in Pakistan affecting thousands of victims from different cities of the country involving fraudulent applications robbing innocent people of millions of dollars,” said the letter sent by FIA to Binance. The investigation found 26 Binance wallets and 11 mobile applications linked to the applications. The apps were identified as MCX, HFC, HTFOX, FXCOPY, OKIMINI, BB001, AVG86C, BX66, TASKTOK, UG and 91fp. Binance said that it is “working with the Federal Investigation Agency to resolve these issues.”
