Crypto Trading is not legal in Maldives Says Central Bank

By Chetna Phour

In a recent press release, the central bank of Maldives has urged the citizens to be wary of the social media advertisements related to cryptocurrency trading. The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) warned the general public against transacting in cryptos. MMA pointed out that it is the only agency which is responsible for licensing money exchange businesses, domestic as well as international money remittance firms.

According to MMA, Maldives is the smallest country of Asia by area as well as population. Though day by day advertisements related to virtual money are increasing on social networking sites but till now  no permission has been given to any organisation to trade in cryptocurrencies or other virtual currencies in the country. In the statement, the authority said that:

“No party has been granted permission to conduct any financial transactions using cryptocurrencies or other virtual currencies in the Maldives. Furthermore, the issuance of any legal tender by any other party is against the law.”

Other than the central bank of Maldives, there are some other reserve banks around the world which have taken an anti-crypto stance including Central Bank of Samoa and Bank of Laos. The bank of Samoa stated that the virtual money or cryptocurrencies do not possess a legal tender status in the country. The bank has also said that the promoters of cryptocurrencies have to acquire the same license as financial institutions. The bank of Laos is equally cautious about the trading of the cryptocurrencies.

Recently the Bank of Zambia (BoZ), Zambia’s central bank also stated that Zambians who are engaging in crypto trading are doing it at their own risk. In a statement, the bank of Zambia said that

“Cryptocurrencies are not legal tender in the Republic of Zambia; Secondly, BoZ does not oversee, supervise nor regulate the cryptocurrency landscape,”

The bank also added that

“Consequently, any and all activities related to the buying, trading or usages of cryptocurrencies are performed at owner’s risk.”

Last month, the central bank of China, People’s Bank of China put out a public notice urging the citizens to avoid speculating in the overseas issued Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and cryptocurrencies. Despite the ban on digital currencies in China, domestic investors have flocked to foreign crypto exchanges.