Pakistan moves to bring cryptocurrency boom out of the dark
Pakistan has seen a boom in trading and mining cryptocurrency, with interest proliferating in thousands of views of related videos on social media and transactions on online exchanges. While cryptocurrency is not illegal in Pakistan, the global money laundering watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), has called on the government to better regulate the industry. Pakistan is on the FATF’s grey list of countries it monitors for failing to check terror financing and money laundering. In response, the federal government has set up a committee to study cryptocurrency regulation, which includes observers from the FATF, federal ministers, and heads of the country’s intelligence agencies. In March, the group announced it was looking into setting up new mining farms using Zaka’s facility as a template. And despite the challenges, Pakistan’s crypto boom shows no signs of stopping. (Reuters)
