Bangladesh Government Comparing Gaming with Gambling and Cryptocurrency

[Fatemablabla]

Can't you use different banks? Perhaps your bank is like a government bank or Islamic bank. Not sure how regulations there, but it is surely messed up if all banks behave the same.

No, my bank is not any government bank or any Islamic bank. They are a private bank ltd. But here all the banks have to maintain the rules from the Central bank which is Bangladesh Bank. So, all the banks are declining cards on those websites. Today saw the news that next week they will arrange a meeting and will discuss our issues with this rule. Hope for the best.

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[7788bitcoin]

Bangladesh Bank just blocked credit, debit and prepaid card purchase / transaction on various video game websites like Steam, Origin, Blizzard and many other third party video games website. According to them, this order came from Bangladesh Bank itself because they think these sites are gambling / cryptocurrency websites LOOOOL. What kind of fucktards are running this country who can't distinguish video game websites from gambling websites ??

This is called paranoia by the government as they have no idea the restrictions they are implementing. There are options to overcome these restrictions, find a virtual credit card and hope it will be possible to fund those or use gift cards to carry on these transactions, what ever it may be it is stupidity by the banking sector to restrict gaming sites.

[jossiel]

It's too strict that even forex is not allowed and foreign stocks is not allowed. This can also the reason they didn't want to accept any foreign apps or games that requires payment and card details for security as they experience a cyber heist last 2016 a huge lost that's their implementation and banning transactions were too insane. I guess any foreign transactions that includes card and bank details were totally ban after that heist. This should be a lesson to tighten their security against hackers and to improve their service, but the sad thing is that their people will also need to adjus or do other option like this.

You still have an option, buy gift cards of steam or transact P2P on the forum through an escrow for SWC with crypto.

Yes, there's a connection that past incident. It's a huge sum of money and they're being careful this time. I understand them and it's easy to say because I'm not from that country but I also do understand the struggle of those citizens that doesn't have any evil thing on their minds but only want to enjoy the perks of transacting online.

The good news is that they can still have an option but if they find it too hassle, they have no choice but to adopt the norm and adjustment that they need to embrace.

[Findingnemo]

Governments can block anything they want and I think they banned games because it is addictive not really as gambling even in Pakistan many games were banned just because of people complain that their kids are spending lot more hours on playing few games.If gambling and gaming is prohibited in your country then better fina a better place to live, no need to survive on such a shitty place.

[Emitdama]

Bangladesh Bank just blocked credit, debit and prepaid card purchase / transaction on various video game websites like Steam, Origin, Blizzard and many other third party video games website.

Can't you use different banks? Perhaps your bank is like a government bank or Islamic bank. Not sure how regulations there, but it is surely messed up if all banks behave the same.

Actually in 2014 I believe, Bangladesh banned all the dealings in cryptocurrencies and even stated that anyone who is found to be associated with BTC transactions might have to face some money laundering laws and might get jailed.

Any bank operating in their country would hence never appreciate crypto related services and payments and hence they are actually right to restrict users from doing those transactions. The change has to come from the government because when the government doesn't allow BTC to be legal then there is no way the banks can break their law and allow such transactions. Gambling has been long associated with crypto even if it is not as dominant in the field of gambling.

[Sanugarid]

Lol! It shows why majority of the Asian countries are still counted as "under developed" or "developing" to the rest of the world! It's all about mindset of the people who are running (ruining) the country.

I totally agree with this!, Been living in Asia and you're right one of the problems here is the traditional mindset, I'm not telling that all countries here are like that but MOST are living traditionally and is not eyeing for better, it's like they are already get used to a stuff and they don't wanna replace it anymore, they are contented with what they have. Unlike in western countries like in Europe, the status of living in Europe is progressive, I can tell by the way they adopt every changes in any aspect. I guess minds of the people here are cultured, and we can't blame people why they are embracing it.

Same story here in India where one-exam-wonder bureaucrats are actually seeing cryptocurrencies as a big threat to the economy. But I wonder why foreign stock market investment is banned if a resident is doing it through a registered stock broker. This makes no sense at all!

Now I really believe how many corrupt officials in the governments are, I see the bad side of bitcoin but just looking at it without getting a solution gets you nothing at all.

[Strongkored]

Governments can block anything they want and I think they banned games because it is addictive not really as gambling even in Pakistan many games were banned just because of people complain that their kids are spending lot more hours on playing few games.If gambling and gaming is prohibited in your country then better fina a better place to live, no need to survive on such a shitty place.

Changing places (countries) is not an easy thing, especially for common citizens with low income, it sucks but citizens can only wait for regulatory changes even though it is not a pleasant thing.

[Findingnemo]

Governments can block anything they want and I think they banned games because it is addictive not really as gambling even in Pakistan many games were banned just because of people complain that their kids are spending lot more hours on playing few games.If gambling and gaming is prohibited in your country then better fina a better place to live, no need to survive on such a shitty place.

Changing places (countries) is not an easy thing, especially for common citizens with low income, it sucks but citizens can only wait for regulatory changes even though it is not a pleasant thing.

It is not going to be easy but it is going to be worth it, even if you are a common middle class person you can find a job on other countries if you have good education skills and experience and nothing is going to be changed overnight, everything will take time for sure.

[tbterryboy]

I would say changing countries is not really the solution, making sure that governments realize they could not only take advantage of crypto by taxing people and getting richer as government, but also it would allow people to get money from other nations a lot easier so that they could bring in money to the country and making that country richer is also an important thing.

On one hand you are paying taxes for something legal instead of trying to hide it from government to do something illegal and not pay taxes, so obviously first one makes more sense, and also second one is if you promote it like India did with software and try to get more money from other nations you could bring in dollars to get yourself a lot richer as a nation thanks to all the influx of money coming in.

[peterpanda]

Don't blame government of your country. As far as i know, still now most of the people in BD are not familiar with crypto currency. And in this current situation government is not permitting gambling. For this reason, you got this types of mail from bank.

[maxreish]

The bank prohibits you to use your credit card for using any crypto related purchases. From what I understand with the mail, they are just preventing some unregulated actions like crypto gambling purchases using your credit card.

Maybe, you have used your credit card before from buying some coins. Or they have detected your credit card has history of any crypto related purchase that's why they locked your credit card. It's just that, the moment you are about to buy video game products using it, they blocked it because their are tons of online games that can also buy some crypto in exchange of their gems/ products.

If no history of previous crypto purchased using your credit card, then they are just  following the order from BB regulatory requirements.

[MCobian]

I can feel your resentment towards the Bangladesh government, because I will also be angry and upset when the government is in my country
do the same. Fortunately in my country there are no transaction restrictions on video game websites, but if I pay attention to the transactions
banned by Bangladesh bank, it turns out that there is a point "Foreign currency payment to purchase goods / services originate and sold in
Bangladesh". This means that the Bangladesh bank already know difference between video game websites and gambling websites, but it is
prohibited transactions in foreign currency, with developers video game websites from outside Bangladesh. That's why Bangladesh bank blocked
your transaction.

[so98nn]

Oh come on man, why the heck they would prohibit Lottery ! For God sake, Lottery has to be their in every country. It's just a common man making out his luck in the daily life. What they were thinking while making those guidelines. In my country lottery is played like anything and let's not even think about US countries where these stuff is on the peak!

Lottery can be good way of earning taxes for government and still they go on banning it! And all you need is few bucks to be placed in lottery ticket, for that matter why would one ban whole card system. This is insane news to read and that too from qualified personnel.

[ilovealtcoins]

I am sure that this country is lacking cryptocurrency regulation and that its people are vulnerable to losing money investing in the cryptocurrency market. Just like in my own country, a lot of people have filed complaints against scam crypto projects over the past year. They have lost a lot of money and they don't know how to get their money back by going to court but in the end, they still can't get their money because the law in our country doesn't have specific regulations yet. crypto.

[carlisle1]

Bangladesh Bank just blocked credit, debit and prepaid card purchase / transaction on various video game websites like Steam, Origin, Blizzard and many other third party video games website. According to them, this order came from Bangladesh Bank itself because they think these sites are gambling / cryptocurrency websites LOOOOL. What kind of fucktards are running this country who can't distinguish video game websites from gambling websites ??

Those of us who have credit, debit, prepaid cards originated in Bangladesh, we're basically fucked. Today I tried to buy a game from steam and saw my card isn't working.

#Digital_Bangladesh

This is the mail I got from my bank today.

Is this serious?just because they think those game are gambling they have just blocked the sites?without doing a formal investigation to prove their claims?

i believe  that those are only game provider because i use some of them,and there are no gambling happening not unless each individual who plays put some bets when they play and that is another story .

hoping they will reconsider the decision because there is fun in each game and only gamer can understand that.

[wiss19]

Hmmm, I don’t think it’s only in Bangladesh that this kind of thing is happening because I got a message from my bank yesterday that I cannot spend more than $100 with bank card on foreign websites, but as for local transactions, there is no limit. So, I guess they are trying to keep the money in the country and avoid money laundering by all means.

But from this your bank post here, what I don’t really get is why they included forex and stock markets on the list of things that shouldn’t be paid for. And apart from that, gaming websites is not a bad thing, they shouldn’t stop people from paying for a game online.

[audaciousbeing]

Quite a number of countries are taking this step and its not only happening in Bangladesh. Its a simple straight forward regulation in other to protect both the economy and the citizens at large which is something that should be complied with. It did not remove the fact that some activities along the restricted areas won't be going on behind the scene but its only shows what the government is saying concerning certain subject matter. However, there is no need to be worried because policies can change at any time whenever there is an overriding reasons as to why that is to be taken.

[Haunebu]

Wow. This is insane. It seems like the Bangladesh government is living in the medieval times thanks to these restrictions from their side. How pathetic. Blocking gamers like this just shows that they want to control everything in their country.

I feel sad for the Bangladesh citizens who have to endure this crap going forward. I hope they reverse these restrictions soon.

[Vishnu.Reang]

For those who are new to the cryptocurrency sector, Bangladesh is the country which arrested cryptocurrency traders a few years back. They have always treated cryptocurrency similar to contraband. It will be wrong to assume that their stone age mentality regarding new technology would change anytime soon. For those who want the details of the old incident, check this:

https://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/news/police-arrest-3-cryptocurrency-dealers-1735429
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/currency/11097208/Why-Bangladesh-will-jail-Bitcoin-traders.html
https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/crime/2018/02/19/police-hunt-bitcoin-users-bangladesh/

[mu_enrico]

Bangladesh Bank just blocked credit, debit and prepaid card purchase / transaction on various video game websites like Steam, Origin, Blizzard and many other third party video games website.

Can't you use different banks? Perhaps your bank is like a government bank or Islamic bank. Not sure how regulations there, but it is surely messed up if all banks behave the same.

Actually in 2014 I believe, Bangladesh banned all the dealings in cryptocurrencies and even stated that anyone who is found to be associated with BTC transactions might have to face some money laundering laws and might get jailed.

Holyshit man! I'm sorry to hear that.

Perhaps what you guys can safely do is to store some Bitcoin and wait for your country to change (because of globalization). But there is a riskier (and more rewarding) way that is trying to change the policy democratically. It's very tough, but you can use academics institutions to do this kind of debate. Let them know that KYC/AML compliance will solve the money laundering problem without stomping ordinary people from accessing new technology.