Taliban Leadershipeadership Impose Ban on Cryptocurrency in Afghanistan

[lumbanrang]

And when they put a ban on cryptocurrencies it has no effect on the global crypto market, and actually it's their right to ban crypto in their area, but I think as long as there is internet + VPN access anyone can still access crypto for their transactions. They should also focus more on stabilizing the political conditions in their country rather than dealing with things like this.

[palle11]

I'm not surprised that they will go to bitcoin to stop it exchange, transaction or flow of it. There are reasons that can be associated to the pronouncement.

1. They are against the freedom and libration of the people's mind.
2. Like some other countries who have banned it on the grounds of religion.
3. They don't want foreigners to be part of their system.
4. Low level of education

Agreed that Afghanistan is a new government under the leadership of Taliban and they need to set certain mechanism going but outright ban of bitcoin is limitation of human growth.

[teosanru]

Cryptocurrency Operations has been laid to halt in Afghanistan and the usage forbidden in the region as it is believed to have been the root in perpetrating fraud and the new regime of the Afghan leaders, the "Taliban" have directed everyone in the country to desist from it acceptance, usage and transactions involving cryptocurrency for making payments while it has banned the commercial banks from it either, many have been arrested for contributing to the use of cryptocurrency by engaging in trading crypto tokens and other related activities that supports the engagement of cryptocurrency within the rule of the Taliban regions in Afghanistan.

The Taliban leadership believed cryptocurrency as an aid in denying them have access over the control of the people's asset as cryptocurrency is believed to be a decentralized digital network whereby anyone can independently secure his financial assets without the rule of the Taliban, this is what they believed as against their ethics in the country and further places engaging cryptocurrency or uses attracts a purnishable act.

“The central bank gave us an order to stop all money changers, individuals, and businesspeople from trading fraudulent digital currencies like what is commonly referred to as Bitcoin,”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-26/taliban-ban-crypto-in-afghanistan-arrest-digital-coin-dealers

Over 20 businesses associated with cryptocurrency had been shut down in Afghanistan and the whole engagement of it has been banned just as in the case of China, hasn't this been an end to cryptocurrency in Afghanistan? or p2p can be use to circumvent the ban but if caught it's a purnishable offense.

It's quite strange because these sort of groups have used Cryptos a lot for raising their funding and doing their transactions when they were operating under the hood and now when they have formed a government they are banning other groups from doing it. Obviously at this fragile stage of the economy it's obviously necessary for them to keep all the money in the economy in their control. But yes they can make Cryptos as their base to create an all new type of economy.

[DrBeer]

For the Taliban, this is part of their "great" plan to return Afghanistan to the "Stone Age"! Trust me, they will succeed.
I perfectly understand why the United States left Afghanistan - you cannot teach people to live like normal people, well and civilized, if they absolutely do not want it!
The problem of the "new" Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban is that in addition to the fact that they will very quickly lead Afghanistan itself to total degradation, they will become a new, yet another center of regional terrorism. It is precisely because the surrounding countries did nothing to try to pull Afghanistan out of this path that the United States spat on this whole idea, and did not want to independently resolve the issues of those who should have been most interested in this.

[crzy]

For the Taliban, this is part of their "great" plan to return Afghanistan to the "Stone Age"! Trust me, they will succeed.
I perfectly understand why the United States left Afghanistan - you cannot teach people to live like normal people, well and civilized, if they absolutely do not want it!
The problem of the "new" Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban is that in addition to the fact that they will very quickly lead Afghanistan itself to total degradation, they will become a new, yet another center of regional terrorism. It is precisely because the surrounding countries did nothing to try to pull Afghanistan out of this path that the United States spat on this whole idea, and did not want to independently resolve the issues of those who should have been most interested in this.

Too bad for them, they are afraid of this kind of change and obviously their Taliban government don’t want to give any freedom to their people since cryptocurrency promotes freedom away from the government control. Sadly, Afghanistan people left with no choice but to follow their government, hopefully they can really stand on their own and stop the terrorism now that they fully control the whole country again, though we cannot expect this one but if you are holding crypto and living in Afghanistan, I’m sure there’s still a way to liquidate your crypto.

[hatshepsut93]

Can't spell "Taliban" without "ban" 

Jokes aside, it's not surprising that a country with crumbling economy and religious fundamentalist government would ban crypto, these types of people see freedom as a threat to their rule. The good news is that Bitcoin was created to operate in any conditions, including under threats from government, so its users in Afghanistan will still have access to it, they just need to be extra careful to not get caught.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Not sure if I'm buying any of this mainstream media nonsense--for all we know, this could just be anti-crypto propaganda driven by an agenda none of us know about.  Kind of like all of those stories about bitcoin's use in money laundering and crime and so forth, none of which detract from its value as a currency or store of value.

I mean, this is a Bloomberg article for Christ's sake.  That's as agenda-driven and mainstream as it gets.  Take all of this with an enormous chunk of salt.

[2stout]

Let's think about why they need it?
It is impossible to ban cryptocurrency if the Internet is not blocked.
The first thought is to prevent the withdrawal of savings to other countries. If so, then over time the bans should be lifted.
Another thought is that it is not possible for opponents of the government to receive funding from other countries.

True, but the threat of intimidation and being reported will loom strong and will most likely prove to be a strong deterrence of crypto use unless you are brave enough to risk facing the wrath.

[Darker45]

I used to think that cryptocurrency is actually advantageous rather than disadvantageous to the Taliban because they are importing illegal drugs around the world. The Taliban has been earning hundreds of millions of dollars a year from narcotics. It's probably one of their main sources of income. Well, perhaps they don't need crypto for this kind of transactions. Fiat and the banks are probably the more convenient options for them.

From September 2021 there is a big problem in the banking sector.
Taliban bans drug cultivation, including lucrative opium
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taliban-bans-drug-cultivation-including-lucrative-opium-2022-04-03/
It was when the Americans controlled Afghanistan that drug production grew there.

That's old news. Here is a new one, published just days ago by the Atlantic Council: Afghanistan’s drug trade is booming under Taliban rule.

Everything is cheap talk for the Taliban. Well, you can't blame them. They badly need to put up a handsome face in front of the international community to make their government look legitimate and for the rest of the world to trust or at least recognize them, or perhaps support them in some ways.

But not only did illegal drugs trade not stop when Taliban took over the government, it actually grew massively.

And how could they manage to effectively stop it when:

• it is a source of stable livelihood for hundreds of thousands of its poor people
• it provides great revenue to a country that is in the middle of a severe economic and humanitarian crisis
• it could ignite violent anger and resistance among its people
• it provides some sort of economic relief amidst many sanctions, frozen central bank assets, withdrawal of huge foreign aids, and so on
• it seems to be the best and most profitable option for farmers amidst lack of alternatives, especially in times of severe drought
• the government itself lacks resources to efficiently enforce such order
• they simply couldn't survive without it.

Sources:
1. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/southasiasource/afghanistans-drug-trade-is-booming-under-taliban-rule/
2. https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210819-taliban-vow-to-ban-heroin-but-can-they-survive-without-it

[Gayong88]

Over 20 businesses associated with cryptocurrency had been shut down in Afghanistan and the whole engagement of it has been banned just as in the case of China, hasn't this been an end to cryptocurrency in Afghanistan? or p2p can be use to circumvent the ban but if caught it's a purnishable offense.

The most popular use of the cryptocurrency is Bitcoin in Afghanistan. Beyond the risk of trading in a currency that can change in value dramatically in a matter of hours, users also face regulatory and political pressures.

Perhaps the country's Ministry of Finance issued an order stopping all transactions related to cryptocurrencies. Now because there is another important policy and must be done. While digital currencies are growing in popularity in the region, there are a number of barriers preventing cryptocurrencies from taking off.

[Note3]

Cryptocurrency Operations has been laid to halt in Afghanistan and the usage forbidden in the region as it is believed to have been the root in perpetrating fraud and the new regime of the Afghan leaders

The reason they ban crypto is because it is used as a fraudulent tool is ridiculous because they themselves have deceived the Afghan people by making fools.
They ban crypto because they understand that it can be used for outside funding to people inside who do not agree with the system of government they run.
It is permissible or not for the Afghan people not important things because they need food more than crypto policies which use the internet to acess its, while they themselves most likely do not have access to the internet.

[livingfree]

What a reason, to control people's asset? Well, I almost forgot that it's the Taliban government and they're not different from the communist parties that are reigning in other countries.

Well, whether they impose a ban, will they be able to trace those Afghans that will have transactions and will use some VPN to avoid connected to their networks?

I don't think that they have that technology or even they do, it's close to impossible.

[Hydrogen]

The taliban could gain by authenticating their opium trade using a blockchain ledger to verify the integrity of inventories. The legal marijuana industry is a great blueprint of this. The taliban must be very concerned about the environment and climate change. They will make a hard commitment towards carbon neutrality. Forgo things which mainstream media claims are gateways to money laundering. Of course, the questionable nature of their opium industry will continue without interruption. Most will not link a high number of opium fatalities worldwide to afghanistan or the taliban. It could be safe to say there are a few conflicts of interest present.

It is known that islam contains teachings against usury banking with high interest rates. Its literally against their religion. Which could mean islam supports technologies like bitcoin on a fundamental level. The motive behind the taliban disavowing crypto becomes an interesting topic. Due to the circumstances and conditions surrounding the stance.

[Lucius]

Can't spell "Taliban" without "ban" 

And then someone else wonders why those ban-maniacs finally banned cryptocurrencies, when in that country they ban even music and television.

Jokes aside, it's not surprising that a country with crumbling economy and religious fundamentalist government would ban crypto, these types of people see freedom as a threat to their rule. The good news is that Bitcoin was created to operate in any conditions, including under threats from government, so its users in Afghanistan will still have access to it, they just need to be extra careful to not get caught.

After 20 years under the Americans and others who were there on a mission to introduce democracy, we now see how successful they were in that. It's only a matter of time before the Taliban are completely back to their old ways (if they haven't already), but as long as they don't engage in terrorizing outside their own country, the West will pretend that there are some good guys out there.

[stompix]

Not sure if I'm buying any of this mainstream media nonsense--for all we know, this could just be anti-crypto propaganda driven by an agenda none of us know about.  Kind of like all of those stories about bitcoin's use in money laundering and crime and so forth, none of which detract from its value as a currency or store of value.

I mean, this is a Bloomberg article for Christ's sake.  That's as agenda-driven and mainstream as it gets.  Take all of this with an enormous chunk of salt.

Why don't you make a trip out there to see it with your own eyes, but I think you would be better with no jeans, no shirt, no usa flag on anything and better keep your mouth shut and not speak a word in English. Also, burn your passport as some really bad things happen to the ones coming from certain countries.
Of course, whatever I say can be also taken for western propaganda, that's why I'm saying, go down there and see it with your own eyes! 
One thing you can be sure of, I will do miss you! 

Out of pure curiosity, is cointelegraph and their sources also mainsteam media?
https://cointelegraph.com/news/what-the-taliban-crackdown-means-for-crypto-s-future-in-afghanistan

I wonder why is everyone surprised a totalitarian zealot-like regime would ban anything that isn't explicitly allowed by their holy book, don't we already have history to confirm how they acted before? But it's really funny, every country that acts like an enemy of the US and wants death to the dollar is also against Bitcoin, while the US is quite the opposite, makes you think things for a bit.

It was when the Americans controlled Afghanistan that drug production grew there.

And it was the Russians buying it, directly from Russia today:
https://www.rt.com/news/afghanistan-opiates-heroin-ivanov-140/
https://www.rt.com/news/un-report-russia-heroin/

Russia has become the biggest consumer of Afghan heroin with 21% of all the drug consumed in the world, as of the latest UN Office on Drugs and Crime report “Addiction, Crime and Insurgency” published on October 21. According to the report, no less than 70 tons of heroin were trafficked to Russia in 2008 – that’s three times more than to the US and Canada together, and much more than previously estimated

Oh, what times, when Russia Today was actually reporting stuff, not used just for propaganda!
Do you remember those times? When you were free to talk about everything?

[Lucius]

I wonder why is everyone surprised a totalitarian zealot-like regime would ban anything that isn't explicitly allowed by their holy book, don't we already have history to confirm how they acted before? But it's really funny, every country that acts like an enemy of the US and wants death to the dollar is also against Bitcoin, while the US is quite the opposite, makes you think things for a bit.

Maybe they think that things have changed in that country because the peacekeepers have gone home? It is incredible how many people think that the Taliban really wanted to change, because in the minds of these people, nothing has changed in the past 50 years, and it certainly won't in the next 500 years.

I wonder what would happen if Bitcoin was declared legal tender in Afghanistan? Maybe the streets would be full of armed people who would shout Bitcoin Akbar, while on the way they would beat up some kid who was found using FB on his phone or had a song by Miley Cyrus

[avikz]

Lol! Is it something very unexpected? We all knew that such kind of blanket ban is coming but we didn't know when it will be coming. Now it's official! I believe Taliban leadership will still use cryptocurrency for terrorism financing for various sleeper terrorist cells they operate in many countries.

Afghanistan is going through a huge humanitarian crisis now. Taliban will destroy everything progressive and focus on religious teachings only. It's very sad to see such nonsense in 2022.

[stompix]

I wonder what would happen if Bitcoin was declared legal tender in Afghanistan? Maybe the streets would be full of armed people who would shout Bitcoin Akbar, while on the way they would beat up some kid who was found using FB on his phone or had a song by Miley Cyrus

Ramp it up a bit!
Imagine if the Taliban would declare Ethereum halal and Bitcoin haram, this would truly be a grab popcorn time!
As for the second part I wished you would have said Justin Beiber so I could have said, well the kid deserved the beating! 

It is incredible how many people think that the Taliban really wanted to change, because in the minds of these people, nothing has changed in the past 50 years, and it certainly won't in the next 500 years.

Yeah, why would the Taliban want to change when their own existence and faith are based on not changing a thing from how things were a thousand years ago?
It was obvious this would happen, they played along for a while to make sure the Americans are not coming back and launching another air campaign, but since the danger seems gone now they have shown their true colors.

[Flexystar]

I am not surprised with this news because we talking about a country which got forcefully independent and with the most dangerous criminals around the world rules it now. What do we expect from them? They are decision makers based on faulty logics and religious sayings etc. Those guys are literally not thinking straight about anything. No woman empowerment, no this job that job, no foreign relationships! Man that’s gonna take them no where and soon that dynasty will sink to the bottom of ocean. Worlds changing at fastest rate and adoption is much needed all the time. So what can we say about the decision they made about bitcoin or crypto currency? It’s lame.

[Cryptock]

I am not surprised with this news because we talking about a country which got forcefully independent and with the most dangerous criminals around the world rules it now. What do we expect from them? They are decision makers based on faulty logics and religious sayings etc. Those guys are literally not thinking straight about anything. No woman empowerment, no this job that job, no foreign relationships! Man that’s gonna take them no where and soon that dynasty will sink to the bottom of ocean. Worlds changing at fastest rate and adoption is much needed all the time. So what can we say about the decision they made about bitcoin or crypto currency? It’s lame.

Taliban are different people and their laws are stricts.
If they have imposed a ban - they make sure that no one deals in bitcoin and they will not let happen in Afghanistan - that is for sure. .