Bitcoin Remain Illegal in 7 Countries - Are Governments Afraid of Losing Control

[Die_empty]

All governments around the world were afraid of BTC and other popular cryptocurrencies at some point or another since they were never expected their insane growth over time thanks to which their overall power over the global masses decreased to a certain extent.

Many like India etc realized that there is no point in banning them due to which they switched to regulating them. The countries that you mentioned which still ban them are just pursuing a fruitless endeavor by trying to ban them completely.

Some of these nations that banned Bitcoin would change their stance in the future. By the time Bitcoin becomes a popular currency in international markets they would be forced to lift the ban on cryptocurrency. In emergency situations, they can also be forced to embrace Bitcoin. Several countries that are under Western sanctions had to embrace Bitcoin to bypass International payment platforms like SWIFT. Russia, Iran, and others faced these problems and they started using Bitcoin.

[EL MOHA]

Isn't it a fact that the complete ban on trading and mining did not come until the middle of 2021? Besides, they understood what Bitcoin was even before 2013.

Yes the total ban of bitcoin in China was in last quarter of 2021 although the restrictions actually started in early 2013 when bitcoin was starting to make waves the country restricted institutions from handling it and then as time went on we had the FUD on energy consumption and this lead to mining of bitcoin later been banned and later on they actually banned it totally in 2021. With this stands still confirmed last year.

Some of these nations that banned Bitcoin would change their stance in the future. By the time Bitcoin becomes a popular currency in international markets they would be forced to lift the ban on cryptocurrency. In emergency situations, they can also be forced to embrace Bitcoin. Several countries that are under Western sanctions had to embrace Bitcoin to bypass International payment platforms like SWIFT. Russia, Iran, and others faced these problems and they started using Bitcoin.

If you look at most of the countries in the list of the countries which are still stern to bitcoin you will see that they are all from one region which is Arab countries and that gives the idea that their choice of ban isn’t on the technology itself but actually treating bitcoin as a legal currency in their religious perspective and this is why it’s banned. But as rightly said necessity will make them look into it again and example is Iran rumored to actually be using it for fee collection in the Hormuz and that’s a big sign that other countries in terms of crisis will find bitcoin as a alternative

[Felicity_Tide]

Do you think banning Bitcoin is a solution for money laundering and other allegations, or should countries move towards a regulation to keep up with the times?

Has Bitcoin ban in those countries eliminated money laundering completely?, definitely not.
The thing is, every government knows exactly what they're doing. To them, it's all about finding what to point fingers at, and Bitcoin perfectly fits that narrative for them. Sometimes, I just feel like these governments likes to justify certain crimes, because I don't understand how money laundering through Bitcoin feels like what they can't tolerate, while money laundering through businesses, or purchasing of properties, are viewed differently. Like I said, every government knows exactly what they're doing.
 
And as for the idea of regulation, I think it is meant to keep the people in check, through centralized platforms. I doubt if it has anything to do with protecting the people. The last time I checked, it is the key responsibility of the people to protect their Bitcoin, and not the other way round.

[m2017]

Despite the global Bitcoin adoption in seven countries, Bitcoin still remains banned officially. These seven countries are China, Algeria, Egypt, Bangladesh, Morocco, Iraq, and Qatar. During scrolling news, I found it on Cointelegraph Twitter that seven handful countries' Bitcoin remained banned. Here is the picture of the details.

7 "most democratic countries where democracy and civil freedom are valued above all else"?

"Image from Cointelegraph Twitter"

There's another color in the picture - gray - that's unlabeled and takes up almost half the planet. Is bitcoin legal in these countries, or what's the current status?

Most of these countries ban Bitcoin to prevent money laundering and some countries like China accusing it for high energy consumption from mining. I believe all these allegations are just shit. They don't have proper knowledge about Bitcoin or how it could keep its role in the global economy. Though countries are changing rules constantly, but I am not sure when they will make Bitcoin legal. There are a lot of ways for money laundering; still, people could do it through Bitcoin on the black market since it's decentralised. Means they just don't like Bitcoin because they can't control it.

To ban something, you first need to come up with a reason to ban it, and here the regulator resorts to typical manipulative schemes, such as combating money laundering, protecting children and the innocent, combating something prohibited financing, and so on. However, the real reason is that the regulator "dislikes" something that could potentially deprive it of its power (partially, for example, control over financial flows). It's always easier to ban and deprive citizens of financial freedom than to lose control itself.

Except for these seven countries, other countries seem to be moving forward to regulation to make it secure for their citizens. Do you think banning Bitcoin is a solution for money laundering and other allegations, or should countries move towards a regulation to keep up with the times?

So, the gray countries on the map are those that won't ban, but will regulate, bitcoin?

I firmly believe that bitcoin ban is primarily due to political reasons (the regulator's retention of power and total control over its population) in each specific country. Banning bitcoin solves only one problem: restricting citizens' financial freedom (or they haven't figured out how to collect taxes from this yet).

[JeffBrad12]

Soon there will be less and less countries banning bitcoin. China knows what it's doing with banning bitcoin but the other 6 countries don't know any better.
Their opinion about bitcoin possibly coming from a prejudice against a new thing like Internet on the early days.
Yet they will realize that they going to need bitcoin badly because they want an alternative to SWIFT for international remittance. It's not bitcoin that need them, it's the other way around.

[Publictalk792]

As matter of fact, spread out network cannot in theory be totally stopped at all, and tries to do so usually drive users into illegal back markets, where they are less easily seen. Rules are looking towards most other nations as process not only stops citizens from scams, but government can also collect taxes and let country stay strong in newer areas such as AI and digital systems. Personally, I believe that ban of Bitcoin is short term response that does not think about its positive effect as tool against inflation and even drives skilled people out of country. Best way is, however, to set rules since it ensures safety checks that governments want but gives people freedom to own digital items and these seven countries will probably have to at some point change their rules to match with skills of world.

[jharrow_btc]

Bans don't change demand, they just change the price of access. China's P2P OTC market after the 2021 ban went bigger, not smaller, the premium just widened. Same story in Nigeria before the 2024 reversal. Every one of those seven countries has active Binance P2P volume if you check the CNY, EGP, BDT and DZD books. The ban is an FX-control tool dressed up as a crypto policy, and it always leaks through the informal channel. The only thing it really stops is domestic custodians, not coins.

[Lida93]

Most of these countries ban Bitcoin to prevent money laundering and some countries like China accusing it for high energy consumption from mining.

The underneath truth still remains that most governments ban on bitcoin is because they don't have control of it even if they could regulate the activities of investors in the market that doesn't still mean having a control. Therefore, it's mainly why we get to see all these bans, but they wouldn't want to make it obvious, so there must be something that must be put forth as excuse.

Energy would forever be consumed and it's not just bitcoin mining that's consuming that much electricity. Nevertheless, if the government has had control they would have have resort to expanding of electricity through the various power source generations. I don't wanna talk about the blind excuse on bitcoin being a means of money laundering because we know how transparent bitcoin transactions are when compared to fiat which can be muted to clean traces of illegal transactions.

[Rustam Meraj]

The underneath truth still remains that most governments ban on bitcoin is because they don't have control of it even if they could regulate the activities of investors in the market that doesn't still mean having a control. Therefore, it's mainly why we get to see all these bans, but they wouldn't want to make it obvious, so there must be something that must be put forth as excuse.

Energy would forever be consumed and it's not just bitcoin mining that's consuming that much electricity. Nevertheless, if the government has had control they would have have resort to expanding of electricity through the various power source generations. I don't wanna talk about the blind excuse on bitcoin being a means of money laundering because we know how transparent bitcoin transactions are when compared to fiat which can be muted to clean traces of illegal transactions.

I agree with reason that energy excuses can very often act as fake reason to want control of money, and that you are correct in saying that Bitcoin mining is less of energy waste than gold area or the data centers. I think smarter nations are today treating miners as power space or flexible power space that helps leveling of power systems by taking in extra energy and shutting off when power need is high. This is exactly type of growth you suggested. And yes public record of Bitcoin trades is much more clear than hidden business of paper money world, and makes it much harder to be bad in open.

[NotATether]

Most of these countries ban Bitcoin to prevent money laundering

They are doing as if they do not know about money laundering. Money laundering is possible without bitcoin or any other cryptocurrencies.

The dinosaurs in these governments are definitely aware that there are many ways to perform money laundering without crypto, but I suspect that some of these countries are under pressure from the IMF or World Bank to outright ban cryptocurrencies as a condition for getting further loans.

It would definitely explain why their central banks come out with these sort of directives out of the blue.

[Zigabel]

Most of these countries ban Bitcoin to prevent money laundering and some countries like China accusing it for high energy consumption from mining. I believe all these allegations are just shit. They don't have proper knowledge about Bitcoin or how it could keep its role in the global economy. Though countries are changing rules constantly, but I am not sure when they will make Bitcoin legal. There are a lot of ways for money laundering; still, people could do it through Bitcoin on the black market since it's decentralised. Means they just don't like Bitcoin because they can't control it.

I doubt if not having enough knowledge about  Bitcoin is any reason for which these countries has refused to unbanned Bitcoin, one the reasons you have mentioned that bothers on energy consumption for mining and also Money laundry, is enough reason for them because they know their struggles with these, but then it is possible that there are also other salient reasons which are not made known yet of which could bother on control, this is one aspect even the government's that has accepted it had to agree that there's almost nothing they can do about it but wants the benefit of Bitcoin to their economy.

In the near future they may make adjustments to adopting Bitcoin but for now we can say their reasons is in their best interest and it is very much valid. People launder money in other ways but maybe it will be easier for them to track if they are handling a particular way which they can control rather than having multiple ways which will cost them so much to monitor and control, but we know the economic benefits of Bitcoin will soon override all of these excuses and they will soon find a reason to adopt it as the need be.

[dezoel]

I'm not sure you understand what I'm saying bros @Ahli38, let me be clear once again, the government can tell the public all sorts of plausible reasons to discourage adoption, we never know what they're really thinking. They may have a strong reason behind it & we only know what is on the surface. The country that is happy with dominance is the United States, do you see them restricting BTC?

The reality is that, we "know" what they are thinking, they are just not saying it out in the open but we know it. Bitcoin gives people freedom and there are some nations who do not want that freedom and that is exactly why they are doing this.

It's true that we are dealing with something that is getting a lot worse and we should be considering how this could be very different situation.

We should be considering how things could change and we need to realize governments fear losing control.

[tabas]

I doubt China. They've been so dynamic with the bans that they've announced before, from Bitcoin to ICOs and then anything related to crypto. But then, you'd see on the news that they're having a plan of CBDC which is another one that's going to be related to crypto. China is so attentive, wherever money is and the opportunities are, you'll find them there and one of the first ones to stick around and mine as much as they can.

[Selaphiel]

I think that it is not just 7 countries currently where bitcoin is illegal in their country because I have also seen other countries that have banned or are still illegal in their jurisdiction here is the source https://cointracking.info/blog/where-is-crypto-legal-or-banned. And if there are any countries where it is still illegal, it is likely that their mindset is still really closed or they may not be ready for this kind of adoption, they are still doing it differently.

[rdbase]

Did not know so many of those civilized countries who have relatively their own stabilized financial systems are still against allowing bitcoin to be used for their citizens.
Have heard China banning and then lifting it's prohibited use their many times in the past.
Always thought this was done so to gain some sort of leverage for those chinese owned mining operations that do pay their government taxes and of course the payments of all that electricity used going to the power plants there.
But seeing such places like Qatar on the list is a bit concerning of why. If for religious reasons or not since other places in the middle east have promoted it's use and even invested into companies that work towards bitcoin integration into their society such as Dubai.

[ZAINmalik75]

Despite the global Bitcoin adoption in seven countries, Bitcoin still remains banned officially. These seven countries are China, Algeria, Egypt, Bangladesh, Morocco, Iraq, and Qatar. During scrolling news, I found it on Cointelegraph Twitter that seven handful countries' Bitcoin remained banned. Here is the picture of the details.
Except for these seven countries, other countries seem to be moving forward to regulation to make it secure for their citizens. Do you think banning Bitcoin is a solution for money laundering and other allegations, or should countries move towards a regulation to keep up with the times?

China has manipulated the market for too long, rigs were being manufactured there, a lot of people were mining but eventually they banned everything in the name of energy crisis and maybe they were right because the population there is very high so maybe the reasons they gave was not fake but saying that BTC is being used for money launderning that's why we have banned it, that's a fake reason.

Because if they have banned it for this reason, then they have failed to stop money laundering because North Korean hackers have been moving their money they have stolen in crypto from Chinese companies.

China has high population so if they will allow crypto completely the adoption would be enormous but there have been several discussion on why China has banned it because US has adopted it, and somehow they wanted to use it against China that's why China did not accepted it in the first place.

[arwin100]

Most of these countries ban Bitcoin to prevent money laundering

They are doing as if they do not know about money laundering. Money laundering is possible without bitcoin or any other cryptocurrencies.

The dinosaurs in these governments are definitely aware that there are many ways to perform money laundering without crypto, but I suspect that some of these countries are under pressure from the IMF or World Bank to outright ban cryptocurrencies as a condition for getting further loans.

It would definitely explain why their central banks come out with these sort of directives out of the blue.

They have all the data's they needed and government knows that there are lots of channels to do money laundering even if crypto didn't exist.

Sometimes what really drives towards those banning is the external pressure like the disturbance of IMF towards decision making of certain countries that they see slowly adapting Bitcoin. They usually ask crazy conditions maybe to have control in the situation.

Maybe this is the reason why central authorities act faster because maybe they don't want their business to get interrupted by Bitcoin.

[lionheart78]

If it were in my hands, BTC would be legal everywhere, but the truth is that 7 countries (where it's illegal to certain extent) isn't too big a number, especially if you take to consideration the challenges the network faced to get to where it is now.

However, since so many individuals and also nations have changed their mind about BTC over the years, there is also a possibility BTC becomes legal to use in some of these countries sometime. I'm sure a lot of people in these countries still use it secretly, but then they would be able to use it without the fear of penalty.

True, once Bitcoin transaction becomes the norms in every corner of the world, this country that banned will reconsider their restriction.  For sure them not taking advantage of the opportunity brought by Bitcoin adoption are missing out on profit.  Once they realized this, they will eagerly lift their restriction and let Bitcoin infrastructures be built in their country.

Not because they ban Bitcoin now, it will stay ban forever, after all what each country and government aim is to get a good source of income, and if Bitcoin shows that opportunity to these country one day, these country does not need any push to unban Bitcoin.

[Franctoshi]

If these countries banned Bitcoin in their various countries due to money laundering other than fear of losing control, then I tell you that there's no way banning Bitcoin is gonna stop money laundering in those, countries. Even with cash, people move money without being traced. Even with Bitcoin's public ledger, it's even more difficult to hide huge amounts of money being laundered than with cash using tools like chain analysis. Generally, when it comes to energy concerns and money laundering issues, banning can never be a suitable solution to it; rather, countries should apply smart regulations in order not to be left behind with this evolving technology.

[_act_]

[Sometimes what really drives towards those banning is the external pressure like the disturbance of IMF towards decision making of certain countries that they see slowly adapting Bitcoin. They usually ask crazy conditions maybe to have control in the situation.

Maybe this is the reason why central authorities act faster because maybe they don't want their business to get interrupted by Bitcoin.

IMF will not say or do anything. What IMF is against are the countries that makes bitcoin a legal tender. IMF have not against any countries that legalized bitcoin, it is the countries central banks or government that are against bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general. The central banks of the countries will most likely dislike bitcoin while the countries law makers are not doing anything. But luckily, citizens of the countries do not need to wait for the government before buying and selling bitcoin.