The Taliban*** regime that came to power in Afghanistan imposed a nationwide ban on transactions with crypto assets, called it a sinful business and cut the country off from the global cryptocurrency industry.
Afghans once turned to virtual digital assets as a lifeline to receive money transfers and donations from abroad, as well as to protect savings during the civil war. However, after the Taliban came to power, the situation changed dramatically.
According to a report by the research company Chainalysis, until November 2021, about $150 million in cryptocurrency transfers were sent to the territory of Afghanistan every month. Currently, this amount is less than $80,000.
"The Taliban repression has had a huge deterrent effect on the local cryptocurrency market. The Taliban provided crypto dealers with three options: to flee the country, stop operations or be arrested," the Chainalysis report says.
In August, the Taliban regime imposed a total ban on all transactions with crypto assets, calling it "haram" — a sinful business prohibited by Sharia law. The Taliban have already arrested 13 crypto dealers who violated the order to stop trading in digital assets. The detainees were later released on bail pending the decision of the Sharia court. Different punishments can be imposed for different actions belonging to the category of "haram": from a simple warning or punishment in the form of lashes to the death penalty.
In October 2021, after the Indonesian government refused to ban the circulation of crypto assets in the country, a branch of the large Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama imposed restrictions on their use for its followers.
*** Taliban is an organization recognized as a terrorist organization, its activities have been banned on the territory of the Russian Federation since 2003
