The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has formed a cryptocurrency committee that will decide whether or not to block crypto websites.
According to Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) well-informed sources, the Division concerned is unable to issue an advisory on the blocking of cryptocurrency websites.
According to Ministry officials, the central bank had already sent a letter to commercial banks asking them to stop dealing in cryptocurrencies. “The websites cannot be blocked on the basis of that letter because they are not licensed by the state bank,” they added.
According to sources, the SBP committee, which was chaired by Deputy Governor SBP, included representatives from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications (MoITT), and the Ministry of Commerce.
They added that the issue of cryptocurrency websites is likely to be brought before this committee, and that the committee will decide the fate of these websites in due course.
It is worth noting that the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cyber Crime Wing recently sent a list of approximately 1,600 cryptocurrency websites to the PTA for blocking.
PTA had written to MoITT, requesting a directive on the future of these websites. The telecom regulator has stated that it cannot block websites at the request of the FIA.
PTA has also written a letter to the FIA requesting that they identify any laws or rulebooks that could be used to block these websites. According to the regulator, the FIA’s legal reference in this regard is very weak.
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