Bitcoin Forum

We know that it is not possible to ban bitcoin directly, but to create mechanisms that make its use or acquisition difficult, running the risk of being arrested, fined or other problems with the government. And there are several countries where they create these impositions on Bitcoin.

With that in mind, I decided to do some research on the subject and found an interesting article from EuroNews - Bitcoin ban: These are the countries where crypto is restricted or illegal (https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/08/25/bitcoin-ban-these-are-the-countries-where-crypto-is-restricted-or-illegal2). The information contained in the article is already a year old, but it allows you to have an overview.

The article presents 18 countries that have created restrictions on Bitcoin. Here is a small compilation of what is involved in these restrictions in these countries.

#Algeria - Since 2018 it has been illegal to buy, sell, use or hold virtual currencies.
#Bangladesh - Officially there are bans on the use of cryptocurrencies, with penalties of up to 12 years. However, they have had a soft strategy on the subject, with no record of convictions.
#Bolivia - The use of Bitcoin has been prohibited since 2014 (this ban was very early).
#China - We are well aware of China's history with respect to cryptocurrencies, which have intensified their ban after the Terra Luna incident.
#Colombia - Also since 2014, financial institutions cannot have any activity related to Bitcoin: “protect, invest, intermediate or administer virtual money operations”.
#Egypt - By religious decree, since 2018, bitcoin transactions have been prohibited by Islamic law. And since 2020, any trading or promotion of cryptocurrencies must have a license from the Central Bank.
#Indonesia - The use of cryptocurrencies as a form of payment has been banned since 2018.
#Ghana - Despite cryptocurrencies being illegal, there appears to be interest from the central bank in blockchain technology.
#Iran - Cryptocurrencies mined outside the country cannot be traded, but Bitcoin mining is encouraged.
#India - It is one of the worst countries, because since 2021, it is a crime to own, issue, mine, trade and transfer cryptocurrencies.
#Iraq - Efforts have been made to block and hinder the use of cryptocurrencies, despite the fact that they are becoming increasingly popular in the country.
#Kosovo - Due to the energy crisis in the country, any mining activity is prohibited.
#Mexico - Even though cryptocurrencies are banned, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the country - Bitsos, has more than 1 million users.
#Nepal - The central bank has declared Bitcoin illegal since 2017.
#North Macedonia - It is the only European country that officially bans cryptocurrencies.
#Russia - Where some of the largest mining centers in the world are located, despite the fact that it is prohibited and cryptocurrencies can be confiscated.
#Turkey - The direct or indirect use of bitcoin to pay for goods and services is prohibited. And trading on exchanges is limited to a group of companies chosen by the government, under various rules.
#Vietnam - Payments using cryptocurrencies are prohibited, but they can be used as assets.

How do you think bitcoin users deal with these situations?
How do they manage to get around these restrictions without getting caught?
Do you think, what more countries can join this list?

IMO the restriction of Bitcoin as a currency isn't a big deal because most people are using Bitcoin as a commodity, just convert it to fiat and there's no problem.

But the restriction of must having license or anything that verified by central entity is definitely not good, this will ruin someone else privacy.

The interesting fact is what about Bitso? it's ironic if the Mexico's government don't want their citizen to use Bitcoin and they only serve for foreigners.

The countries you have mentioned haven’t completely banned the coins. They have just restricted it’s uses, that’s all. These countries don’t like it’s users to use the coins. As they cannot control the coins, hence they just put restrictions on it completely. People still use Bitcoins on these countries, but none of the exchanges provide complete support to cash out the Bitcoins in their nation’s local currency.

joker_josue I can assure you that Bitcoin or any other crypto is not banned in India. There was a blanket ban earlier in 2018 by the Reserve Bank of India, it got removed in 2020. A new tax policy was introduced by the government of India in 2022 and recently a lot of my fellow Indian community members have paid crypto tax on their capital gain.

In India there are several local cryptocurrency exchanges that are operating with ease. The trading  volume has depeleted due to the new tax law otherwise everything else is business  as usual in India for Bitcoin. We are expecting a regulatory framework around Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency most probably by the end of this year or by end of next year.

BTW, you should add North Macedonia (https://freemanlaw.com/cryptocurrency/macedonia/) to that list as it is the only European country that has banned Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency.

First of all, thank you for the hard work I'm sure it took some of your time and definite effort to post this. Second, that is surely a lot of countries, I didn't expect them to be 18 countries in total seeing as how popular Bitcoin is getting. However, this post only shows just how difficult it will get for Bitcoin to have the international recognition and acceptance we all hope it gets. There will be a lot of countries that will go against this notion and it will certainly cause debates and heated discussions. The most prominent reason why a lot of countries will surely be added to this list is the Central Bank. I'm sure most of us are already familiar with this point with Bitcoin and Central Bank, and how most (if not all) countries will surely side with the latter one. Additionally, legalizing something, especially one that is connected to money and the economy will take a lot of time and process.

However, there are those bitcoin users who know just how to go around those restrictions, cause I sure know some people who live in that listed country who are able to transact and use bitcoin just fine. I'm sure they are able to find a loophole or a system that is out of the government's sight to do their transactions, and as bad as it sounds kudos to them for having the balls to do so. I mean, anything to make you money, right? It's not like they are hurting someone if they just bend the rules just a little bit, it is even pretty clever of them to find ways to go around the system undetected.

Their local board is active that I would have thought that trading and everything is so easy in Bangladesh.


All the countries you mentioned do not have a clear ban but rather restrictions on trading, buying and selling Bitcoin, but the number of countries that have legislation and penalties in which individuals have been imprisoned because they are trading Bitcoin and not for any other reason such as money laundering is rare or limited.

If I was in a country that imposes restrictions on Bitcoin will adhere to the ban  but I will travel abroad, buy Bitcoin and keep it until the legal cover is available.

The list of countries isn't that big, but the population of some of them is huge, and that's a big deal. With China's and India's 1.4 billion people in each of them, it's safe to say that well above 3 billion people (perhaps around 3.5 billion) are living under official crypto restrictions. It doesn't mean they all can't use cryptos at all, but it means they are significantly limited and facing some risks for doing it. That's, like, 40% of the world's population we're talking about, so it's huge. Some countries might join these, but I don't think that'll change much, and it's important to realize that the amount of people already affected is incredibly significant.
But it's also important to know how often the laws are enforced there, and what kind of punishment people face. Because in some countries, some bans can mean literally nothing and not affect people's lives. For example, piracy of movies and TV shows is technically illegal in my country, but using torrents is incredibly popular, without anyone ever worrying about any consequences because there won't even be any consequences. So if in some of these countries, crypto restrictions are like that, it should be accounted for.

Most Indonesians don't use Bitcoin for payment, at least for local or national transactions. I believe nothing really changed from then, and there's nothing urgent that makes them try to push the narrative that they should be able to pay with Bitcoin. That being said, I do know some people still use Bitcoin to pay internationally or use services like SIM top-ups or game currency payments. So far no one is really getting arrested for that, I doubt the government is going out of its way to stop people making $10 transactions per month with BTC either.

We still have people in these countries that you mentioned OP, that are into cryptocurrency (bitcoin) because nobody can deprive anyone from using bitcoin,since it is kept in a noncustodial wallet, which nobody can have access to apart from you. Bitcoin isn't totally banned but it is restricted by the government in these countries because they don't have the control power over it. The only challenge that I think that people that bitcoin is banned in their countries is converting bitcoin to their local currency and vice versa. In my country bitcoin was restricted to banks but not to individuals and the rate of adoption is still increasing. No matter any extent that the government goes to ban bitcoin in it's country, there will still be bitcoiners but the adopting will increase slowly.

This post is a joke, as some of the countries has added limitations and not a complete Ban. OP doesn't know the difference between Ban and Limitation. If you google India Crypto Regulations, you just have to pay a tax fee and you can use Cryptocurrency and even hold and create accounts. If it was ban, why would any exchange allow Indian users to create accounts? Complete nonsense to be honest. For Bangladesh, that's true though.

It would be great to complete the list of countries in which bitcoin is banned with information about the punishment (not every country has fines or other penalties) for buying / selling, owning, or even just because someone looked in the direction of btc. :) The last point is a joke .

The first thing that catches eye in this list is that there is not a single developed European country there, and this forces us to draw certain conclusions. It turns out that bitcoin is banned for the most part in third world countries, with a weak economy, weak technologically, or where there are totalitarian tendencies that try to control citizens as much as possible. These countries are already lagging behind on the world stage and ban bitcoin will further tear them away from the leading countries. Those countries that allow technology to develop, those are progressing, and those countries that are on the list are likely to pause progress.

I'm sure this list will change. That is, new countries will be added and maybe some of the list will become more loyal to bitcoin after a while.

Even with the above-mentioned restrictions in place, the demand for Bitcoin is not slowing down. Bitcoin is being used by almost every country in the world. I think crypto cannot be regulated with such a ban. If it could be done then many would have been influenced earlier. Crypto is being used in all the countries mentioned but there are legal restrictions. Since it is not possible to stop Bitcoin by the government of any country. So many feel that governments are doing their duty just by banning. What I personally emphasize about poison is that since the government cannot control it, even if it affects the world market temporarily, it will not have any negative effects in the long term.

Remove India please, The ban on crypto is now old school, many people in India are saying there is no more ban on crypto, as for China it's all a game, they are in between banning and unbanning crypto in the country, they will soon lift it I am sure of it.

In these crypto ban countries many people are slowly accumulating crypto and nobody knows about it, The truth is you can be in any county and still have crypto without anyone knowing, if you can take decentralization very seriously no one will know, not even your government.

I remember when the ban on crypto in my country was serious I still kept buying and selling crypto, I just used p2p services to exchange my fiat into crypto, right under the nose of the banks, you will understand what I mean if you know how p2p works.

That's what I think too because other countries on the list are neutrals when it comes to owning bitcoins and accepting them as a means of payment for their services or products. I think this is not permanent because those countries are just temporarily like that and once they see the successful stories from some countries that have done the opposite, they will lift this so-called ban and join the financial revolution if they don't want to be left behind. One of the reasons why are they doing this is to provide financial security for their people because we know that scammers will take advantage of some communities that lack knowledge about cryptocurrencies.

The article is dated 08/25/2022, that is, specifically a year ago, and the regulatory regulations may have differed completely since that date. Also, these laws are based on official reports, which are sometimes different from what happens in reality, or sometimes there is a ban on Bitcoin, but Bitcoin is not defined. Or penalties or establishing a legal regulation that makes all of this possible.

A list of legal restrictions can only be created by specialized individuals who have a presence in all countries on the list.

The information is so misleading in many ways. Most of these countries still have active users and as stated by few users the countries that you have mentioned like Egypt, India, Russia, Kosovo and turkey are highly active in the crypto currency trading. You really need to verify the source and also verify information from at least different sources or local sources of those countries. The best way to do this is ask the local boards to participate in this voting and ask the actual situation about bitcoin in their countries.

They don't, I presume. If you know it's illegal to use bitcoin, and that there exists mass surveillance to prevent anyone from disobeying, then 99% of the people will not take the risk. Dependently on the fine, of course.

Tor, and they don't sell for fiat. They just use it as currency.

I quickly looked for North Korea, and it's missing. I'm pretty confident it isn't allowed there either.  :P

Lol. And when you'll be prompted to justify that income... Good luck.

So we should trust people on a forum rather than an official decision?

I don't understand why everyone is angry at OP, it is what it is!
Just because you and one hundred other people drive in a city at 70kmh and nobody gets a fine it doesn't mean that that limit is not 50kmph!
Porn is banned in some, alcohol is banned in some, and some countries have banned books and movies, just because people can get their land on it it doesn't mean there is no ban!


Isn't it ironic?
People cheer for BRICS and de-dollarization and there you have the list, no G7 or EU country while you have 3 out of 5 members from Brics there and the leading one has banned everything over and over. It would be interesting to see their ranking when it comes to freedom and press, seeing Russia and Iran in that list probably the bottom 20 in the world.

That makes no sense :D
Whoever came up with this joke had no idea how cryptocurrencies work. There is no such law in Iran and it wouldn't even be possible to enforce it since that would require ridiculously centralized exchanges that store a massive database with a complex blockchain analysis algorithm that can follow the coins that were mined domestically to prevent anything else from being traded LOL

Mining cryptocurrencies in Iran is legal and regulated, you'd need a cheap and easy to get license for mining farms. Trading cryptocurrencies is not really regulated but it is not banned either; there are multiple Iranian exchanges that have been working fine with banks to accept deposit/withdrawals.

There are only two things that are forbidden in Russia:
1. to receive payments in BTC if you are a Russian legal entity or tax resident;
2. to disseminate information about goods and services which may be bought for BTC.
Both restrictions are stated by this law: https://www.consultant.ru/document/cons_doc_LAW_358753/176562423610280f8b2578ab3480887bf7707562/ (paragraphs 5 & 7 accordingly).

Everything else is legal. E.g. people may make payments in bitcoins, and this isn’t against the law. A person who pays may do this, and only a person who receives payments violates the law.

Fundraising through crypto tokens can attract up to 10 years of jail term and penalties has high as 500,000 yuan ($79,000) in China. If using Bitcoin is illegal and attracts certain sanctions, I think many people will not be willing to bear the risk. In my country, Bitcoin is not banned but the restriction placed on it is one of the problems that have limited its mass adoption in my country. It will be better to obey the law than to face the consequences. If you think that you cannot do without bitcoin, you can consider moving out of the country.

If you have a trusted friend or relative outside the country, they can help you buy and keep the keys. But the person must be trustworthy. Another way to always move to a Bitcoin-friendly neighboring country to do your transactions. You can buy and see your coin there and return back to your country.

More countries will open up to more investment in bitcoin. Even China is becoming friendly to Bitcoin using Hong Kong. China is secretly making Hong Kong a crypto hub to enjoy the benefits that the sector offers.

I don't believe that Bitcoin is not exists in Indonesia or Russia. There are so many bitcoin enthusiasts in those countries. There may be other parts of Indonesia that do not recognize Bitcoin. Especially in Russia, because I know many merchants in this country use Bitcoin as one of the options as mode of payment.

Also, as far as I know, in the year 2020, the country of Russia passed a law that recognized cryptocurrency as property, but in terms of payment, it is still banned (https://freemanlaw.com/cryptocurrency/russia/) Then in Indonesia, there are only restrictions in other business industries, such as financial firms(https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/indonesia-regulator-says-financial-firms-banned-facilitating-crypto-sales-2022- 01-25/)

Although Bitcoin is illegal in these countries, almost all  countries people in these are familiar with Bitcoin and use Bitcoin more or less. Bitcoin is very easy to buy and sell so even if it is banned in a country anyone can buy it because Bitcoin can be bought through PayPal Various exchanges like Binance help to buy and sell Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies through p2p. So they are not a big problem.  Again the country India in your list has validity of other cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin so it is not logical to have india in your list.

A big joke indeed , and I personally believe that even with the complex blockchain analysis algorithm and other stuffs, they will still be loopholes available for bitcoins mined outside the country to be traded in the country, the person or those who came up with this restriction do not seem to understand the complexity in bitcoins decentralization or the decentralized part of Bitcoin, bitcoins on chain do not state where it was mined, who mined it or what type of machine was used to mine the Bitcoin, all this I stated would have been an easy way the Iran government would have used to enforce this restriction, but unfortunately for them, the block chain does not provide such data, so for me, I think it's near impossibility for such restriction to be enforced.

I'm shocked my country doesn't fall in this list because on reading your caption, I went straight to search for my country but was shocked not to see it here ad that was when I had to go back and read the thread well.
My country  makes it seem like owning bitcoin  is a criminal act and there was also an incidence I posted where a woman was harassed because she operated a physical exchange and that draws my attention to a young fellow who also got arrested  by the efcc in my country because he always made it obvious of his cryptocurrency holdings and that also has driven alot of fear to the hearts of holders on the country.

Bjt I also agree with op that bitcoin accomolation  can't really be banned but rather there might be some very strict regulations against it.

I think there needs to be some clarification and updates to be made on OP article if this will truly be relevant as expected because some data and statistics were drawn from past years experience on how the government approach the use of bitcoin, mining and the entire cryptocurrency itself, on the same vein, it is better to put it that in most of the countries listed, bitcoin is legal to be used by the people but not as legal tender, which means it's not against the law to use bitcoin but the government doen not support it commercial banks in using it, in these countries, we cannot say that bitcoin is banned, banks are only banned from using it, while only few had banned bitcoin and crypto, countries like india, Ghana Mexico are still soft about bitcoin, Mexico is only regulating mining environmental impact, but they are quite aware people are using bitcoin for transactions.

The article was from a year ago. A year ago also I saw a list of countries banning BTC which only have less than 10 on it. The locals must know more than what we learn on the Internet.

But even so, BTC wasn't banned in many of these countries afaik, as there were just restrictions. I'm sure there will be a lot of changes soon when countries realize that institutions in the US are taking crypto as a digital investment asset. Even China which has the greater influence in crypto in 2017, knows how BTC/crypto plays a role in the future.

I'll take this opportunity to suggest this wiki, see: Legality of cryptocurrency by country or territory (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_cryptocurrency_by_country_or_territory)

It covers more countries, is more updated and has citations for the most part.


Ideally, either they don't touch anything restricted or they actually know what they're doing. But things can change a lot depending on how enforceable the restrictions are/how much does a country care.

This reminds me of an article about Indians moving to foreign exchanges to avoid paying hefty taxes, see: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/01/04/indians-moved-over-38b-to-foreign-exchanges-since-crypto-tax-rules-research-study/

Hope these fellas knew what they were doing since exchanges share information with authorities but then again, I do wonder how much effort the govt is putting in when it comes to effectively enforcing their laws. Who knows they could just be lifting a finger hence even those who suck at hiding their traces will be getting a free pass.

I still feel that this is not a big problem because it has always been there from the beginning and even though there are effects produced, the influence of bitcoin is still very much felt and its users are growing until now.
I will not talk about other countries in this case but I will talk about my country Indonesia.
Indeed, for now bitcoin is still prohibited as a legal means of payment but until now the spread of bitcoin in my country has actually continued to increase and even the government is quite welcoming actually it's just that for payment tools it is not allowed.
But I don't think it's a big problem because as long as there are no harmful regulations then I don't mind if the legal means of payment for bitcoin is not enforced in my country.
On the other hand, why do I say the government is quite welcome to the existence of bitcoin, this is evidenced when one of our governors some time ago attended and became a speaker at the bitcoin conference 2023 (in Miami) and said that they would endeavour to provide mining facilities by looking at their resources and I think that is one form of my country's support for bitcoin.

Cryptocurrencies in Indonesia are not permitted or illegal if used as a means of payment or as a currency, because only one is recognized as legal, namely the Rupiah, and previously, crypto has never been legal as a legal means of payment in this country until now. But on the other hand, Indonesia welcomes cryptocurrencies and even crypto is legal as a commodity asset that can be traded or invested, with each user taking the risk.

So far, There are no problems that are so serious for me who lives in one of these countries, Indonesia. Because even here, there is not much use of crypto. but what is certain, we here can use crypto as investment or trading without hesitation because there are already laws that allow it as I explained above, as long as I myself accept all the risks. so it's no problem. However, if one day crypto can be legally accepted as a means of payment, then this will be much better.

The number one reason why all the governments from the list where Bitcoin banned ban BTC is because of their political ambition if not we wouldn't have seen their Central Bank having an interest in blockchain technology while they are against BTC which introduce to us the functionality of blockchain.
Another thing I notice is that when new innovative technology is introduced things tend to happen slowly at first, before change, and later boom when the internet was introduced is just one of the many examples.

For every problem, there's always a solution, and the best way that people who reside in the banned country can deal with BTC while also getting around the restriction is determined by the gravity of the restriction and ban introduced by the government.

In those countries, decrees and laws were issued prohibiting the use of encrypted digital assets (cryptocurrencies) of various types, considering that they are a means of money laundering or financing suspicious activities, in accordance with their decentralized design. These laws apply to individuals and companies. In theory, companies are forced to obey the laws due to financial oversight, but this cannot be applied to citizens.
Citizens in these countries enjoy the services of global platforms without the need to use their bank accounts, as they can convert crypto into cash using the local market or peer-to-peer platforms. No government can stop people from using the Internet on their devices.

There's a simple parable that says, "No matter how difficult a situation is, there is usually a way out." I know that even in most of the countries on the list, the restrictions or bans that have been placed on cryptocurrency are not really that serious; bitcoiners and crypto users are openly doing their P2P trade, and the government is not doing anything about it, the reason being that they still have a whole lot of other stuff to handle and build the economy of the country. I am just guessing, though, and I know how difficult some of these laws can be but some citizens can still bend the law, and there will be no serious and disastrous penalty. Only citizens from every of those region can tell how it is.

I don't know about you but the actual supposed ban of crypto was to not stop anyone from having crypto in Nigeria because I know very well that some major politicians and some iconic members in the country are also housing some Bitcoin up their sleeves and I would also like to draw to your attention about the numerous BATM that are installed all over Lagos city and the federal capital territory FCT ABUJA which I believe if actually Bitcoin and crypto as whole was banned it wouldn't have been possible. I think what Nigeria has on Bitcoin is only a restriction on the Normal fiat bank not to carry out any transactions that is crypto or Bitcoin related due to the obvious fact that the central bank can't actually track and follow up the Bitcoin transactions.

The Bolivian "ban" is also imo not a general ban. It's a restriction for financial institutions, and thus it's similar to the Colombian "ban". The Wikipedia article cites a Central bank resolution from 2014, but the Central bank doesn't have the authority to ban use of Bitcoin to its citizens. Law 1670 which regulates the Bolivian Central bank is quite clear:

Source: Ley 1670 (https://www.bcb.gob.bo/webdocs/normativa/1995-LEY_1670-Banco_Central_de_Bolivia_0.pdf)

In short: the BCB has only "normative authority" over financial institutions. They have "prohibited" crypto-assets several times (last time in 2021) but this refers to this law. So as an user you can use Bitcoin in Bolivia (to the general public, the BCB has "recommended" not to use or invest in crypto-assets), but you cannot found a national exchange, nor can banks facilitate crypto trades.

This is true what's more, there was another topic that was somewhat related to this one, in which they talked about how the restrictions towards bitcoin, instead of affecting it, Could be arousing some interest in users, so perhaps the fear that I felt previously due to the use of this, not knowing how the penalties would be, this is changing at the moment in which more people investigate its operation and the different ways that it does not have to go through the radar of the authorities, I think that those who are normally reprimanded are they use centralized platforms to store their assets and to carry out exchanges, if they do not do it this way it is very likely that they can use bitcoin without any inconvenience, just as many do where their country is not allowed to manage these digital currencies.. Of course that before taking risks it is very beneficial to study well how the government is managing this type of capital.

No, actually all payments other than Rupiah (Indonesia Curreny, IDR) can't be accepted, so not only Bitcoin, but also USD, EURO, GBP, or any kind of currency. The rules apply since the Law No.7 (https://www.bi.go.id/en/fungsi-utama/sistem-pembayaran/pengelolaan-rupiah/default.aspx) concerning currency was passed by the senator in 2011. So not 2018 like your write. Bitcoin so far can be use by public as digital asset, we can buy bitcoin the same as we can buy gold, silver, or any kind asset for investment. Indonesia does not ban bitcoin, we are welcome for bitcoin and other cryptocurrency, Indonesia love bitcoin.

Indonesia is my country, as mentioned by the OP, that Indonesia has restricted bitcoin for transactions or means of payment. Our country can only carry out buying and selling activities in our local currency "IDR - Rupiah".

However, we can legally own bitcoins. We are only allowed to have bitcoin as an asset and trading activities on the crypto market. So Indonesia does not completely ban bitcoin, it only regulates the use of bitcoin, perhaps our government wants there to be a currency contradiction, so that every real goods trading activity must use the Rupiah currency as a means of payment and prohibit the use of bitcoin.

Our country has also regulated the legality of bitcoin in state laws : n Pengawas Perdagangan Berjangka Komoditi (Bappebti) menerbitkan Peraturan Badan Pengawas Perdagangan Berjangka Komoditi Nomor 7 Tahun 2020 tentang Penetapan Daftar Aset Kripto yang Dapat Diperdagangkan di Pasar Fisik Aset Kripto (https://bappebti.go.id/pbk/sk_kep_kepala_bappebti/detail/6655) (The Commodity Futures Trading Supervisory Agency (Bappebti) issued Regulation of the Commodity Futures Trading Supervisory Agency Number 7 of 2020 concerning Determining the List of Crypto Assets that Can Be Traded on the Physical Crypto Asset Market)

For the latest regulation, Our country legalized bitcoin as an asset and 500 altcoins. You can see in this regulation : Peraturan Badan Pengawas Perdagangan Berjangka Komoditi Nomor 4 tahun 2023 (https://bappebti.go.id/pbk/sk_kep_kepala_bappebti/detail/12673)  (Commodity Futures Trading Supervisory Agency Regulation Number 4 of 2023)

I find it pretty incredible that two countries like those already had politicians who were aware of bitcoin was in 2014, and the law passed in 2014 it may even mean that they proposed the law back in 2013. These people/countries could have been years and years ahead anyone else in the world and, especially for Bolivia, their economy could have improved a lot. In many first world countries bitcoin wasn't a thing until 2017, so 3 years later. I'm impressed, but unfortunately in a negative way.

The Bolivian ban wasn't a law but a Central Bank resolution, like I wrote above. It's not an absolute ban, but those entities who are subject to the Central Bank's authority are banned to use cryptocurrencies. But there are no fines for citizens using cryptoassets.

A Central Bank resolution can be decided in a month, or even a week if enough political will is there. I remember the Bolivian central bank had worries about the stability of the local currency, thus it implemented the ban.

Later there was a clarification (I think it was in 2018 or 2019) with more precisions about what was explicitly prohibited. I don't find the link to the document anymore, but basically, financial institutions can't use the local electronic financial networks for anything related to cryptocurrencies (we talked about that in the Spanish subforum), and local exchanges are prohibited to exist. The document mentioned however explicitly that the intention wasn't to ban blockchain tech entirely, and that innovations in this space (e.g. by software companies) weren't subjects of the regulation.

A bitcoin "ban" codified as some arcane legal statute without any enforcement is what direction many countries are heading. It isn't an issue until they arbitrarily start targeting citizens by fining them or threatening them with jail time. Most people don't understand the legal jargon so they aren't vocally opposed.

The alternative to the laws are excessive taxes. Some governments have been brazen enough to suggest crypto gains need to be taxed at some insane rate even if the gain isn't realized, ie a "wealth tax".

While I have to agree that there's no apply of the law we have on cryptocurrencies, there are records of arrests and convictions. Maybe you don't know because you aren't from Bangladesh.
The law sounds very hard that one may get sentenced to jail for up to 12 years (it's 10 years I think) but it has never been applied to anyone to my knowledge. A few guys have been arrested and jailed for a few months. There was a guy namely Sohel and they were a team of 3 people. All have been sentenced to jail for a few months.

Well, there are some issues we should know in this case. There was a message from Bangladesh Bank to the detective branch that they shouldn't arrest someone for using cryptocurrency only. They should only be arrested when they find something fishy like illegal activities, crime, hacking, etc. Although this statement was withdrawn on the next day by Bangladesh Bank.
However, although Bangladesh Bank has withdrawn the statement, this is still applied in my opinion. The detective branch or Police has never arrested someone for using cryptocurrency only. All the guys who have been arrested and involved with cryptocurrency, are actually investigated and arrested for other criminal activities like fraud, hacking etc. They first have been arrested and later found to be involved in cryptocurrency. No one was arrested solely for using cryptocurrency. That's why I think though Bangladesh Bank has withdrawn the statement, they are secretly applying that. If someone is a criminal, arrest him. If someone uses cryptocurrency in general, no problem.

To anyone reading this from Bangladesh- this is just speculation about the statement of Bangladesh Bank. Don't take it as a law.

Indonesia only prohibits it as a means of payment, but people can still have it as an investment tool, that's why crypto exchanges in Indonesia will get a service license and if I'm not mistaken they will have a national crypto exchange that is officially managed by one of the ministries.
It is prohibited to use it as a means of payment because there is no law that will protect the parties involved in the transaction when there is fraud and so on, so that those who are harmed cannot make charge because it will only be in vain.
So people will exchange their Bitcoin to fiat if they want to make transactions, as I have always done so far.
However I'm pretty sure banning Bitcoin in those countries won't completely disqualify their citizens from owning Bitcoin but it is very limited and only for storage and sale on exchanges operating outside of their country.

They don't really have to bother banning bitcoin there as there's not a lot of people in the country that has electricity let alone Internet so it's a waste of time for them, their corrupt and incompetent cabinet of politicians probably don't care too much about that as they're more engaged with growing their arsenal to grow their reputation as a rogue nation and their hackers are probably using bitcoin to funnel stolen money to the country besides USD.

You don't seem to have read my comment! I made the important part bold for you. The joke is the one who created this false claim doesn't understand anything.

There is no such law or restriction in Iran, what happened is most probably some random clickbait media wrote a story misinterpreting some other related news or got lost in the translation and thought there is such a silly restriction!

My best guess is the news regarding how the government is willing to use the mined bitcoin (inside Iran) for imports. The clickbait media probably thought this means Iranian miners can't use their coins for anything else then they expanded the news to make it more clickbait-y by adding the part where coins mined abroad are not tradeable.
Now other sites are copying the same nonsense over and over.

The more reason why government need to look away from trying to ban or restrict bitcoin,  since Bitcoin is unstoppable at some point because of Bitcoin's decentralized nature so for that i am with the observation that most of the countries listed above in the ops are all not a none Bitcoin countries and citizens of those countries still hold bitcoin as asset.
Some of countries have hard rethought and sought ways to regulate Bitcoin even though it seems almost impossible and the only regulation will come through exchange and other Bitcoin services.

I think I will make a little correction for the Indonesian regulation, I live in Indonesia and I am offering service for international client and I mainly use Bitcoin and sometimes other crypto too. The thing is in Indonesia there is never a specific law that said Bitcoin is banned as form of payment, only that every payment/transaction that involve currency should only use Rupiah (the local fiat). So, not only Bitcoin but USD, GBP, and all other currency is banned as a form of payment for local transaction.

But there are also some exception that allows transaction with currency other than Rupiah, one of which is International Trading, including import and export of goods and services, so if you are a foreigner and wants to buy something from Indonesia to be sent to your location overseas it's legal to use Bitcoin, but if you come to visit Indonesia and buy locally you first need to exchange your bitcoin into Rupiah.

Even though those countries ban bitcoin that doesn't mean that people living the country will not associate with bitcoin, in my country I have not be in the forum when government ban bitcoin and later the formal vice president in Nigerian made an announcement that bitcoin should be restricted not to ban bitcoin, before that time of the announcement people have being using bitcoin to trade and for other things, what I'm saying is that even though government ban bitcoin what remains will still remain in the bitcoin, so what I want us to understand in bitcoin is that Bitcoin for government to ban it, it will not affect the users of bitcoin.

First of all, I apologize for not responding to everyone or following the topic more closely. I'm out this weekend, and with limited access to the net.

That said, I admit that the topic title is a bit clickbait.  :P
Despite this, in the OP I make it clear that it is in many cases about restriction.

In addition, both I and all of us here on the forum know, that Bitcoin is impossible to be banned. Since there is always a way to use it, we import the country.

As you can understand, I do not know closely the reality of all the countries mentioned, and I point out that in most of them the restrictions are more paper than in reality

What would be expected, is for the forum members of these countries to make comments on this matter. I've seen that some did, and when I can I'll comment and add information to the OP. Thanks.

It was a search I did, not only based on the article mentioned but other information I found, in a couple of hours of research. Not to mention that the information that is being found is very inaccurate.

Thank you again for your comments and notes on the reality of these countries.

Governments of countries where Bitcoin is still illegal always think that since Bitcoin is decentralized and no customer's identity can be tracked through its transactions and it does not require any authorization for its transactions, due to which anyone can transact large amounts without any problem.  And through this, crores of rupees are likely to be smuggled out of the country.  Which can never be brought back.  And that's why Bitcoin is still not considered a legal tender in some countries.

That doesn't change what I was saying: I am blown away by the fact that a country like Bolivia, with all due respect, was aware of bitcoin. I don't know where you are from, I'm Italian, and pretty much until last year we only had very few confusing laws about bitcoin and how it's supposed to be treated, very few things were clear, so whether it was a law or central bank decision, I still find it incredible. I don't know about you but in 2014 I had no idea what bitcoin was (unfortunately).

Yes the fear of money laundering can be a big problem for some countries not to legalize Bitcoin. But in various ways Bitcoin is being used even in countries where Bitcoin is illegal so how can the government stop it? These things are happening because the government is far behind in terms of laws or technology.  So it's just a failure for that country.  Are the countries that have legalized Bitcoin suffering economically or are they developing more economically? As far as I know no country has been affected by Bitcoin legalization so far.  So why are the countries that have not yet legalized Bitcoin still fearing it?

That is true, those who are currently residing in those listed countries can give the reality of how crypto is being treated in their country.
Because the information that we can see over the net, may be different to what they are experiencing right now.
As this market is hard to regulate and control, people will always find a way how to go around their government protocols.
This is why this forum is great to know the actuality as we have members coming from those countries mentioned, and they can attest what is actually happening as they are still crypto users up until now.
The OP can add those information provided by those users in that list and see how each citizen is managing to deal with crypto in their respective country.

It is doubtful whether there are any positive policies regarding the acceptance of Bitcoin in Bangladesh for the time being in the distant future. Bitcoin legalization in Bangladesh has not been possible so far due to negative reasons especially political unrest, money laundering, black market, international smuggling etc.

In terms of Bangladesh there are about 40 lakh Bitcoin users all indirectly involved in Bitcoin transactions avoiding the eyes of the law. But in all these situations Bitcoin users are often prosecuted and sent to jail with fines.

I generally have not been involved in any bitcoin transactions until now. Moreover, I involved myself in Bitcoin forums completely anonymously. Since Bitcoin is never legalized in my country, I always have to engage in Bitcoin transactions undercover. Since I have not completed my studies till now I will be involved in Bitcoin transactions in a completely confidential manner.

However, there are many countries in the world that are taking fruitful plans to accept Bitcoin. They may accept Bitcoin in the coming years but many countries are banning Bitcoin after accepting it again. Maybe one day everyone in the world will accept but countries that do not have the skills or power to control Bitcoin will again take steps to ban Bitcoin.

When taking a look at the list one of the things I noticed is that many of those countries are still in a development stage, and this means that for example the police and the tax agency of the country is nowhere near as strong as what you can expect in a country like the US and the IRS.

This allows people to be very open about the fact they have adopted bitcoin and still not suffer any negative consequences, so it is not like they have to go out of their way to hide what they are doing despite the fact it is illegal to hold their coins there.

I will write an article on Bitcoin and Bangladesh and share it here in the Bitcoin discussion. I will PM you the link once posted.

Often prosecuted? In Bangladesh? I really have no idea then. Can you please mention a few of the prosecutions involving Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency transactions? I'm only aware of a few including Sohel and the gang scam and the guy who bought Audi with hacking money and got arrested. Maybe there are a few more incidents but I didn't know that it's happening OFTEN. By any chance, are you misusing the word OFTEN?

Interesting that you haven't been involved in any Bitcoin transaction until now. If I can remember correctly I have been watching you for the last few months, actively engaging in the forum regarding cryptocurrency discussion. Anyway, it sounds great that people are interested in learning about Bitcoin regardless of whether they are using it or not. Since you are using the forum anonymously, I suppose you are using TOR by default. If you aren't yet, make sure you are using the forum through the TOR browser only.

Pakistan country is not included in this lis which has also restricted buying Bitcoins through credit card/bank and dealing btc or any cryptocurrency is strictly prohibited. No one jailed or fined so far but still we cannot deal crypto openly. Government thinks that allowing btc will increase the money laundering which is not ease to track. The biggest reason is that our citizens involved in many ponzi schemes project and gave been scammed many times by japanese and Chinese ponzi schemes which force government to create ban on Bitcoin.

If i talk about my country so without getting banned people are using btc normally and they use P2P to buy sell btc. most of P2P merchants are from foreign countries (UAE, Saudi arab and Qatar) and own country merchants are also available. hence there is no research team for checking and no one bank account is restricted so far therefore all works going normally. we can easily use any exchange (kyc and no kyc) for trading purpose and also can hold in our wallets. Many time bill introduce to stop Crypto related activities but so far no official strict rules has been announced.


answers already given, using P2P for buying and selling so no bank history for buying selling. If any research team given task then P2P transaction will also catch but still not happened yet

North Korea is really a private country, they might be aware of Bitcoin existence, but since they already restrict most of websites and all of their internet connection are being tracked, they might think there's nothing to declare Bitcoin is illegal. As long as there's no citizen act something suspicious, they will think their dictatorship are still working and has no issue.

I don't think North Korea is full of hackers lol, it's a high assumption.

In Pakistan the government through its law enforcement agency aka FIA conducted operations against crypto enthusiastic last year. People who bought crypto through there credit cards were given notices. Moreover people who do mining are arrested very often. Government thinks that bitcoin will do money laundering but our last Prime minister was given clean chit in money laundering of 16 billion Pak Rupees. Government thinks what's best in there interest not about people.

Maybe we should just get the clarification just once and for all, the ban we are talking about is of two types, the one that the government place on the banks from using bitcoin and the one the government enact as law against the people from using bitcoin for any acceptable means of payment, so there could be ba as well as bitcoin being an acceptable means of payment which indicates banks were banned but it's legal to use bitcoin in most applicable countries.

Most ban mean,the government will make a law to reduce the usage among the people.This is mostly done by the small countries to reduce the money flow to the external assets.Since crypto currency was the digital asset,the amount of holding can’t be find by the government,for this reason government ban or legalise the cryptocurrency.Legalise will help the government also to get some taxes from the crypto traders.After legalisation,the people can use the bitcoin as one of the payment in their shop or industries.

There are countries wherein this blockchain is neutral wherein they are not supporting its usage but are not also restricting people to use it. In these countries, crypto are accepted as a mode of payment but that is dependent with the merchant or service provider whether to accept it or not. However there are countries as well wherein restrictions are heightened or completely illegal such as with China and Bangladesh to name a few as we all know. So if you are living under countries wherein there is a clear and strict prohibition of its usage, then ofcourse it wouldn't be advisable to still engage into it 'coz if anything will happen, your money would be at risk.

Very soon they'll realize that the ban or restrictions on Bitcoin was a means to propagate and cause mass adoption. People in these  coutnries listed by hstill buy and sell Bitcoin under the radar. And they are thriving.

The governments in these countries are only wasting their time and sort of slowing down economic growth. They will actually lift the ban. It has been a long time since have seen Bitcoin being ban or a restrictions. They are coming to terms s with the reality of things.

All of them with corrupts goberments and state excess. They can't accept the idea of ​​having a currency that the central bank can't control.

Since Bitcoin is not authorized in the mentioned countries it is completely legal ban, so using Bitcoin is considered a crime by the government. However, Bitcoin and crypto bans cannot suppress Bitcoin, as Bitcoin is still being used in countries where governments have outlawed Bitcoin. Bitcoin is used by many people in spite of legal restrictions in these countries, especially where I live, most people use Bitcoin. No matter how strict the government laws can never stop cryptocurrency, Bitcoin will always be used and benefited by people. Bitcoin has become the most popular in the global market and as it is currently being used by people, surely the governments of the countries will approve Bitcoin in the mentioned countries as well.

Bitcoin is decentralized and governments can not censor Bitcoin transactions. They also can not make any request to any person or team to seize your Bitcoin if you don't store it in a centralized platform like a centralized exchange or an online platform with custodial wallet.

You can buy bitcoin from non KYC decentralized exchanges and store it in your non custodial wallet. No governments can seize your bitcoin in your wallet.

No-KYC exchange encyclopedia (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5461920.msg62640260#msg62640260)
https://kycnot.me/ (https://kycnot.me/)

Well I didn't say the country has a ban on cryptocurrency or bitcoin but what I said was that the country makes it seems owning bitcoin  is a crime which isn't and if you've heard or watched the interview  with bitcoinlord, one of the most holders of bitcoin in the country, he made a statement that bitcoin or cryptocurrencies isn't banned in the country but rather, the local banks are been restricted from involving with any cryptocurrencies related transactions and anyone getting involved with it is solely responsible for any losses, just incase there be one.

But realistically,  can you boldly hit your chest and tell the security personnels that you deal with bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general?

So far, with my limited experience, I have never known any nation in which owning bitcoin is consider as a criminal.

Buying and selling, using it as a payment method, using it as a currency is prohibited are some ban types I know. You are free to own bitcoin IF you don't use any cash or whatever you got from your criminal activities to buy bitcoin or exchange it to get bitcoin.

If you owning bitcoin by clean money or whatever mean is not related to criminal activities, money laundering, you won't have problems with bitcoin you store at home.

If we are careful in every transaction and keep our bitcoin investment private then no government can confiscate our bitcoins. Even if they know we own bitcoins, they can only issue a penalty, they cannot confiscate bitcoins without our consent. But using bitcoin in banned countries is really a big pressure, because keeping it secret is not easy.

But honestly, I don't know of any country that has completely banned bitcoin because as far as I know, many countries no longer ban it. Instead, they have accepted it to a certain extent, banning it completely is very difficult these days.

This is wrong. Cryptocurrencies are not banned in Mexico, which is why they allow a bitcoin exchange. According to the law they're not money, so they're treated like tokens or collectibles. You can own and exchange them and even use it as a means of payment.


Let me start by saying that you cannot ban bitcoin. All these countries can do is not allow business to legally register as dealing with bitcoin, and they can stop banks to process transactions to foreign bitcoin businesses. They cannot stop people from using bitcoin, so all of this is futile and rather pathetic as it shows the government is weak and trying to stop freedom, because bitcoin is freedom to be your own bank and to use money that isn't issued by anyone.

Getting caught doing what? Owning bitcoin? Who's going to prove it? Hey man, show me your phone, I want to see if you don't have a bitcoin wallet in there! :D

Tell me with all honesty guys, would you like to live in these countries? Some of them are politically unstable (Kosovo, Iran), at war (Russia), destroyed by recent war (Iraq), facing hyperinflation (Venezuela, Turkey), or are so poor that people literally earn a few dollars per day (Nepal, Bangladesh).

Exactly
But in my country, the government made it clear that the local banks shouldn't get involved with any transactions related to bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general and as such, if a bank transaction you're processing has any bitcoin or cryptocurrency writings on it, then there are possibilities of the transaction been block.

In my country,  the moment you mention bitcoin to the average person, the first impression  they get is that you're a scammer and thisnis because, these scammers mostly received their criminal money through bitcoin and as such people don't really think nice of bitcoin  in my country except for the few who are already embracing it.

You don't have to write reason, purpose of your bank transfer is to buy bitcoin, buy goods or whatever if in your nation, banks work like other nations. If you use Remitano, they will give you a random code that is used for your bank transfer. With this, how banks in your nation knows you are buying bitcoin.

I believe you can trade your fiat to bitcoin, without problems that only come if you write in your bank transfer as "I am making this bank transfer to buy bitcoin from my trade partner".

I think if you feel so, don't mention it. You don't need to make your face worse if those people don't need your advice. If they need, you can share what you know with them but I don't go first and face with risk to be called as a scammer. Give them free lecture, free lunch and they call me a scammer, no.

I believe that many people from those countries are using Bitcoin secretly to evade government regulations. Even if Bitcoin is banned I don't think that would block them from the use of Bitcoin through alternative means. It's unfortunate for the Bitcoin community when some countries choose to ban it, but such bans won't deter those who are genuinely interested in investing in Bitcoin.

It's really hard to track someone who uses Bitcoin if they know precisely how to remain hidden from the government. However, it's a risky way as if that person gets caught, they might end up losing all their savings in Bitcoin.

I believe that there should be more countries added to this list, or at least some countries where Bitcoin isn't officially banned but still lacks clear regulations. For example, Tunisia has no specific regulations regarding crypto, yet I've heard that if the government discovers someone mining or holding Bitcoin, they may face significant troubles and in some cases even the risk to go to the prison.

Sooner or later all countries will understand that it's impossible to ban bitcoin and crypto in general. One day it will happen

Already many countries that have banned bitcoin usage in the past have legalised as well as regulated the usage of bitcoin. This is a positive move and this is happening as a result of and more number people's participation into bitcoin. Even from the banned countries people continue to use it.

One of the country that had made strict ban on cryptocurrency is Bangladesh. Once came through a news in which two persons dealing with cryptocurrency were arrested by the police. Now people using cryptocurrency from those countries were using the neighbouring countries for cryptocurrency related activities. Ban is temporary, because when people are in need for it governments can't do anything against the people's need/wish.

I reside in Indonesia, and this news is indeed true. We, the people of Indonesia, are not allowed to use Bitcoin as a means of payment to replace our official national currency, which is the Indonesian Rupiah (IDR). However, surprisingly, it is a peer-to-peer currency, and there are certainly some individuals who use it for transactions.

As long as the government does not detect these transactions, it should remain secure. Take, for instance, Bali, Indonesia, where a few years ago, Bali utilized Bitcoin as a payment method for a few months. However, eventually, the government began to take action and issued a ban related to Bitcoin.

Up to this point, the crypto community in Indonesia can only buy and sell Bitcoin on government-monitored official exchanges. Here, a rather tedious tax system is also in place.

It is good to see any countries are at least sure with their policies for crypto, but what I found most shocking one the time of BAN was India as India was doing somehow good with their Crypto policies At least they were sure but their most policies were discouraging the Investors, as 30% taxation on the profit trades with some restrictions as well. India continuously discouraged the Miners as well. Still, the people used the alternatives to avoid tax P2P trades rather than depending on the local CEX exchanges.

Still, in most countries, policies are not clear which is leading to a more dangerous disaster because any sort of fud completely disturbs the peace in the local market, i.3 in Pakistan the government is still not clear with the market future, is not likely Banned and not even appreciated as the legal tender, a few months back there was media fud, and quite shocking without nay verification the top media outlets manipulated the news and that single news led to a lot of fraudulent activities.

I mean we can't expect everyone to accept Bitcoin and cryptocurrency for sure there will be some countries that are not going like cryptocurrency and ban it in their country but it wasn't completely banned since probably all of the people around the world could easily access Bitcoin since it's on the internet, or probably they might try to control bitcoin but for sure they can't do it because it just like banning the internet on their country so people can still invest on bitcoin even though it is banned on their country as long as they know what they are doing. But it can probably be tracked since if you going to convert it to cash you are going need to do bank transactions and you probably your gonna need a P2P transaction.

But they might get in trouble so if they are not willing to take the risk it's probably better to not try Bitcoin at all since it's also risky as an investment plus on their government. Compared to the past year Bitcoin has already been adopted in a lot of countries but at the same time a lot of governments didn't allow it as well, which is in my opinion pretty normal thing because cryptocurrency is just a new thing where the government dont want something that they cant circulate or control since it is decentralized.

Whether they would be banning it out or not, it wont really be enough for it to stop Bitcoin adoption or recognition but rather it do really shows that government cant really be able to control or take a good hold of it and thats
why they dont have no choice but to ban it out and making out some alibis that they are really just that protecting their citizens on dealing up with something which cant be regulated but the fact or truth is that they cant really get a good hold of it and cant be traced it out and this is something that government doesnt really like for its citizens on touching up this space because they do know that once they would be able to deal with it then
tax evasion and other possible correlated things and benefits could really happen and that what makes demand and recognition been strengthen more.  Doesnt matter if the number of countries which bans out Bitcoin
increasing because no matter what they do, they cant really stop it completely and thats what makes it on getting the interest and confidence specially into those people whom do support it.
It is really that something that cant be controlled.

That's not like that in my nation. Here we end up giving our KYC which means that we are going to end up with a situation where it will take a while to get that done. This is why we believe that we should be careful about it one way or another and the government is always watching us, or at least we act as if the government is all aware of our situation.

This means that we need to be careful at all times and not really act silly with our money and try to hide something. If we hide it, and they figure it out due to KYC, then eventually they will ask for it and that's going to cause a lot of trouble for us. Not a lot of people would do that, everyone I know acts as if the government knows what we have done and pay their taxes.

Several countries on the Op List prohibit Bitcoin as a means of payment in their area, the reason is to protect their citizens from losses due to a decrease in value that can occur at any time. Even though these countries prohibit Bitcoin as a legal means of payment in their countries but do not close the door for Bitcoin to continue to exist in their countries, Bitcoin is only recognized as a digital asset that is included in the trading commodity group on futures exchanges.

The Bitcoin community in these countries remains in principle even though the country where they live prohibits Bitcoin as a means of payment, They can use Bitcoin as an investment asset because it is facilitated by an exchange supported by authorities in their country. They can also make transactions online using Bitcoin to buy goods and services without having to use a third party. Even though the government has banned Bitcoin as a means of payment, the government cannot reach or intervene in all transactions carried out by the Bitcoin community.

The most disgusting thing is that in Russia all these large mining centers belong to officials and deputies close to the emperor's point. Well, they do not allow new technologies to develop in the private sector in this country. This is a priori simply impossible. Everything is so tightly controlled by government agencies that it makes no sense to start this business on your own. One day, the security forces will simply come and wring everything out.
On all these prohibitions, of course, people put a huge bolt. And it's so hard to survive, and then there's the veto. Many have found in the crypto direction an additional source of income, income, in order to somehow feed their families due to a difficult situation.

Crypto enthusiastic in countries where crypto is banned live in constant fear of getting caught by government. For instance, in my country(Pakistan) crypto is banned and we have to be careful while we use features like binance p2p for converting bitcoin to crypto and vice versa. Very often people are caught for being involved in crypto and that do the job for government.  Be careful if you live in region where crypto is banned.

Since you said this I believe in this matter. That time is close to happening in my opinion. Because recently the Central African Republic has accepted Bitcoin as legal tender currency in their country.

although other countries like Germany and Italy have made the cryptocurrency a classifieds assets, and they will probably make it a legal tender currency in eventually and it is not impossible for this to happen too for sure. Because that's where we're really heading towards 100% fully adoptions of Bitcoin.

i think indonesia is ban every foreign currency, it is not just bitcoin but USD as well. as Indonesian citizen I only allowed to use rupiah as means of payment in the country, but I still can own btc. even there are some cryptocurrency exchange that still allowed to operate and being supervised by the government.

well, in every country that bans bitcoin, I really believe that every crypto user in each of these countries has made adjustments to what is happening there, except for countries that are really strict about their rules for cryptocurrencies like Bangladesh. However, like it or not, they do it secretly, or move to other places where their activities are legal.
For other countries, I think there will be several other countries that support the banning of crypto if there are a lot of scammers, or it really hurts the country in question.

Ironic, really. To "protect" citizens, governments can inflict more harm than good. Say something about Bitcoin. They accidentally establish an underground market by only recognizing it as a digital asset and not a genuine payment method. This may be riskier.

Risk is inherent in any investment, including stocks, gold, and Bitcoin. However, outlawing its currency use increases that risk. Its like saying, "Trade at your own peril." Bitcoin community persists despite government restrictions. Its still utilized for online transactions, with or without a third party, which speaks volumes.

While these governments may think they have the upper hand, a decentralized system resists foreign control. The Bitcoin community understands this well. After the dust settles, fuck the government. Keep trading.

Ghana central bank are very funny and not worthy to be called a central bank. Thier stand on Bitcoin is like saying I want the child but I don't like the mother. If you don't want to have anything to do with the mother, then obviously, they don't deserve the mother. You can't say you ban bitcoin but they still have the audacity to say they have interest in utilizing the blockchain. They know how important blockchain is to the environment and people but because they are colonized by the west and don't want to spark reactions that will affect their relationships with them, that's why they decide to ban bitcoin that half of the population in that country will accept if allow as a legal tender.

Ban comes when there is increasing in consumption of what the government terms as been illegal, if people continue to use bitcoin, the government will see it as a threat to their financial system and they don't want that to happen and as long bitcoin exist, people will use it and governments may continue to ban it. Only time will tell if the government will win the global war or the people that use it.

Due to political and economical uncertainty we are facing many problems just because of this my country name is not in this list even we are having good reputation in cryptocurrency and freelancing but Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency is ban in our country by authorities with many high profile peoples are using this and also having good stock of solid crypto coins as well.
In last few years we are one of the top ten countries which are doing impressive development in this era with State Bank is not allowing but in last one year I have no update about anything about any case against any person or company about using this bitcoin or cryptocurrency because I can watch many peoples are doing this without any problem and doing much better things in this uncertainty which is around us hopefully things will be better and improved in near future for the all community.

Some are just afraid, or confused.

India banned bitcoin when they found out government officials were taking bribes in cryptocurrencies.
China first banned bitcoin because people were using it to transfer money out of the country, as sending large amounts of money abroad, or leaving China with a lot of cash is prohibited.
Some Muslim countries ban it because they think investing is gambling and that's against their religion.

These are some examples of hos corrupt governments are trying to rule with an iron fist.

Unfortunately, that has been the situation in my country Algeria since 2018 when bitcoin, cryptocurrencies or anything related to it were banned and forbidden for any use, including holding, investing, or mining. The issue and what i couldn’t understand is that when this law was enacted back then our government didn't even understand what Bitcoin was or if people were using it in first place.


I was dealing with Bitcoin both before and after the restrictions and the introduction of new laws in our country, I'm not sure if it's dangerous or if the government is actively tracking users but we don't have a better choice at the moment. Our banking system is not just corrupted but also so useless.

I only refrain from purchasing anything related to cryptocurrencies online such as hardware wallets and mining devices, due to the several cases of people being caught and sentenced to years in prison which is very unfortunate. But after all I don't have any other choice when it comes to exchanging my local currency for Bitcoin, as everyone in Algeria relies on centralized exchanges like Binance.

I believe that with a better understanding of Bitcoin and its uses some of these countries may consider legalizing it or at least implementing less stringent regulations.

If, according to what you wrote, the use of crypto currency cannot be used as a legal means of payment in my country, precisely when I just started being active but did not know that year there was already a ban, because previously I knew that there were ATMs available and that usually tourist attractions can accept cryptocurrencies as a means of payment.I just found out, a year from the year of the information you wrote, that ATMs cannot operate and crypto money cannot be used as a valid means of payment but must be changed or exchanged first.but this does not dampen the number of crypto enthusiasts in my country because it is only prohibited to be used as a transaction tool.

This is pretty funny, like people never took bribes in India (just like many other places in the world) before bitcoin, right? ::) If that is the real reason then politicians are even more stupid than what I thought because that just means remaining behind the rest of the world that will embrace this tecnology.

Same as above, if that is the reason then it's stupid. Those who want to laundry money and/or make it leave their country will find a way for sure.

Simply because the government cannot find any disadvantages or bad points of bitcoin to blame it on, and they use the excuse of corruption, crime...to blame bitcoin.  we all find those reasons ridiculous, but there is still nothing we can do to stop the government from banning bitcoin.

The government has never been stupid.  if they are stupid, how can they lead and manage us?  but don't believe what they say, I believe they don't want people to hold too much bitcoin, and they are silently accumulating them and waiting for the right time to legalize it.

Most of the countries you mention, didn't ban bitcoin. They just put restrictions on some financial institution from using bitcoin as a currency. I think it was few weeks ago I saw an article saying Colombia is one of the countries in Latin America that has one of the most users of Crypto currencies. Also heard about something where a bank was making a partnership with an Latin American exchange which will allows users to directly buy and sell bitcoins. So I don't think the list you provided is accurate. And most of those countries put restrictions because they most likely have no proper legal framework for the financial organizations/institutions.

I think they are stupid because there is no real way to ban bitcoin: you can censure some website but using VPN or other ways you can still buy/sell bitcoin, and of course there is no way they can stop people from making transactions, unless they plan to shut down internet in the whole country, but I don't think it's a smart move. At the same time, because of these bans, they are missing growth opportunities and even the possibility to get money thanks to the capital gain taxes.

Besides Bangladesh, which is the harshest country for bitcoin, the rest of the countries, I don't think they ban it, they just have pretty harsh regulations on cryptocurrency. Just like China, which is famous for banning cryptocurrencies, a recent report shows that their people also ignore what the government says and invest in cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin or cryptocurrency in general, it can be said that up to now banning is almost impossible. What the government can do now is accept and find ways to introduce regulations to control it somewhat.

Yes, Bitcoin is banned in many countries around the world by governments, and people who use Bitcoin or crypto are always afraid of being caught. For example in my country same as your country where I live many people do bitcoin transactions but all of them use bitcoin carefully breaking the laws given by the government. Since Bitcoin is illegal and considered a crime by the government in our countries, we must use crypto with caution. Binance P2P also people are using bitcoin and crypto and all these actions and transactions should be done with caution. Since currently the governments of our country do not recognize Bitcoin as an illegal and criminal currency, if the administration finds out about using Bitcoin, you must go to jail. That is why we must take utmost care to hide from the government administration when we use this bitcoin against the government.

Going to jail is a pretty harsh punishment for using bitcoin. In my country, if you are caught trading bitcoin, freezing your bank account is inevitable and, more seriously, you will have to pay a civil fine. It doesn't really become a criminal case to the point of going to jail like in your country.

As for p2p trading on Binance, I don't see anything too difficult to bypass the government, each crypto community has tips to help us avoid mistakes. I have been using p2p on Binance for many years and have not encountered any problems.

As I said, don't believe what they say and the ban will only be temporary until they collect all the bitcoins they need.

You're right, taxes are what they're aiming for and that's why many countries are also starting to legalize bitcoin and tax us.  they won't ignore those huge taxes, but they will need to find the right regulations and accumulate enough bitcoin before adopting it. I believe it is inevitable that bitcoin will soon be accepted in all countries, but each country will have different regulations.

Absolutely, sir. It's 100% certain that all the countries that have banned or imposed restrictions on Bitcoin will eventually accept Bitcoin enthusiasts preamble, and the end result will be the regulation of Bitcoin in the future. However, in the currently restricted countries, there are some difficulties for Bitcoin users or Bitcoin enthusiasm, but they hope that these difficulties and restrictions will eventually be lifted in the future."

Let me tell you one thing: in my own country, where I live, the same situation exists, meaning there is a ban on Bitcoin transactions, but despite this, millions of people are still engaged with bitcoin. So this government cannot completely stop this decentralized world, but they impose restrictions according to their ability.