Pakistan wants to legalize digital currency

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A state assembly in Pakistan has passed a resolution regarding digital currency and digital currency mining that paves the way for the Pakistani government to legalize digital currencies. 

At the moment, owning digital currency in Pakistan is illegal; earlier this year, the Pakistani government arrested two individuals because they were mining digital currency. 

“Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are illegal in Pakistan. It may still be possible for Pakistanis to acquire Bitcoins through decentralised exchanges or by purchasing Bitcoins from foreign exchanges, however, that would be illegal,” says the article that announced the arrest of the Pakistani miners.

Can digital currency uplift the economy?

What Pakistan needs is legislation around the digital currency industry and digital currency ownership. According to Zia Ullah Bangash, an advisor to the government that publicized Pakistan’s pending digital currency resolution, one out of four provinces in Pakistan have already voted in favor of the digital currency resolution. In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the parliament unanimously voted yes.

Many Pakistani citizens believe that Pakistan could become a hot spot for digital currency mining due to the countries cheap electricity and cool climate. Others believe that legalizing digital currency ownership and mining would benefit the Pakistani economy, which is largely considered to still be in its developing phase.

Opening up the digital currency industry in Pakistan has the potential to create a number of new jobs in the Pakistani economy, especially when it comes to mining and ancillary services around the digital currency industry. It could also pave the way for several new banking and finance products that revolve around digital assets.

Digital currency legalization in Pakistan has been in the making for quite some time now. Last year, the president of Pakistan made a statement encouraging investment in emerging technology like blockchain. And just last week, rumors began circulating that Pakistan was considering new regulations around the digital currency industry.