The Central Bank of Afghanistan, controlled by the government of the radical Taliban movement (banned in the Russian Federation), has banned the mining and circulation of cryptocurrencies in the country. This was reported Friday by Bloomberg news agency, citing a senior Afghan police officer.
"The central bank has instructed us to ban all money changers, individuals and businessmen from using fraudulent digital currencies such as bitcoin," the agency quoted Syed Shah Saadat, head of criminal investigation at the Herat provincial police department, as saying.
He said the Taliban arrested 13 people during this month's ban, most of whom were released on bail. In addition, more than 20 crypto-exchanges have closed in Herat, Afghanistan's third-largest city and the center of digital token trading.
Bloomberg notes that the crackdown began after some Afghan residents turned to cryptocurrencies to save their savings and prevent them from falling into Taliban hands. Cryptocurrencies have become a popular way to move money in a country that is cut off from the global banking system because of sanctions imposed on the Taliban.
The Taliban launched a massive operation to take control of Afghanistan after the US announced in the spring of 2021 that it had decided to withdraw its military forces from the country. On August 15, the Taliban entered Kabul without a fight and President Ashraf Ghani left the republic. On September 7, radicals announced the composition of the provisional government, the legitimacy of which has not yet been recognized by any country.
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Based on materials from TASS