The hazards connected with cryptocurrencies “far outweigh” the benefits, according to the governor of Pakistan’s central bank, weeks after the country was hit by a massive crypto fraud and the State Bank suggested outlawing virtual payment systems.
Last month, Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) revealed that thousands of Pakistanis had lost their life savings in a $100 million cryptocurrency scam, with investigators estimating that 37,000 people, mostly from middle-class families in Punjab’s Faisalabad, had been defrauded after investing money in a scheme that promised to multiply funds.
According to Pakistan central bank president Reza Baqir, cryptocurrencies pose a risk to financial and monetary stability due to sharp price swings and their distributed and decentralised structure, as he stated at the recent MASIC Annual Investment Forum in Riyadh.
According to a copy of Baqir’s speech provided this week by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), “we as the central bank have reached the decision as of now that, for us and in terms of the primary goals of the central bank, the possible hazards much exceed the benefits.”
