Pakistani federal government sets up a committee to study cryptocurrency after the global money-laundering watchdog, FATF, alerted the country’s officials about the rising interest in crypto in the country.
Pakistanis Quitting Jobs To Mine Crypto
The Pakistani crypto market has seen exponential growth in recent times, with more and more citizens diving into cryptocurrencies. There has been a growing trend of Pakistanis quitting their day jobs to fully invest time, money, and energy in crypto trading. Even those who never had any previous experience in trading or stocks have started considering crypto investments.
Since crypto is not illegal in the country, Pakistanis are grabbing the opportunity to trade and even mine cryptocurrencies.
Ghulam Ahmed, who quit his job back n 2014 to focus full time on mining and trading Bitcoin, is one such crypto-obsessed Pakistani. Along with running a crypto consulting business, the 38-year-old Ahmed also conducts weekly sessions on WhatsApp, teaching fellow Pakistanis about the ins and outs of the market.
“When I open the session for questions, there’s a flood of messages, and I spend hours answering them, teaching them basic things about cryptocurrency.”
Global Watchdog Calls For Crypto Regulations
However, the global money-laundering watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), has shown interest in the rising crypto activities in the country. Pakistan is on the FATF’s grey list of countries due to its history of unchecked terror financing and money laundering. Therefore the task force demanded tighter government regulations for the growing crypto operations in the country.
However, the federal government of Pakistan has only been able to set up a committee to study crypto regulations so far. The committee includes observers from the FATF, federal ministers, and heads of the country’s intelligence agencies.
Committee member and chairman of KASB Securities, Ali Farid Khwaja, noted,
“The relevant bodies in the government who need to get things done are supporting it, and the promising thing is nobody wants to stand in the way of technical innovation.”
Crypto Advocates Demand Official Legalization
Former TV host Waqar Zaka has been one of the loudest proponents of cryptocurrency in the country. He believes that the government should think beyond regulating the industry by investing in crypto.
Zaka, along with Ghulam Ahmed, have experience running their own crypto mining operations. The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s provincial government has asked them to be on a committee studying how it can profit from such ventures. In March, the group announced it was looking into setting up new mining farms using Zaka’s facility as a template.
Full Steam Ahead For Pakistan’s Crypto Community
Despite the call for regulations, Pakistani crypto enthusiasts show no signs of slowing down. Social media networks like Facebook and YouTube are being used to spread awareness and educate the masses about cryptocurrency. Crypto trading apps like Binance and Binomo are more popular than the apps of the country’s leading banks, while Pakistani traders are flooding online crypto exchanges like LocalBitcoins.com
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
Credit: Source link
