Tag: Cryptocurrency

  • Pakistan decides to make cryptocurrency illegal

    Pakistan decides to make cryptocurrency illegal

    The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the federal government have come together to make a decision to ban the usage of all types of cryptocurrencies.

    The 38-page report has been submitted by the SBP Deputy Governor Seema Kamil to the Sindh High Court to declare it illegal.

    On October 20, 2021, the provincial high court directed the government to form a committee presided by the federal secretary of finance to determine cryptocurrency’s legal status and submit a detailed report.

    The submitted report has stated that digital currency is based on virtual business that could be used for terrorism financing and money laundering.

    It also listed eleven countries that banned digital currency including Saudi Arabia and China and urged the court to impose high penalties over unauthorised usage as these countries have implemented.

    The court ordered that the report should be submitted to the finance and law ministries for a final decision on its legal status. They will decide if a ban would be within constitutional jurisdiction.

    The hearing was heard by the two-bench judge headed by Justice Karim Khan Agha. The next hearing will be held on April 12 this year.

    Meanwhile, a TV host and crypto entrepreneur, Waqar Zaka pleaded to make digital currency legal. In his view, it would benefit the economy of the country.

    It was reported previously that Pakistanis have lost almost 18 crores in a cryptocurrency-related scam. Almost 55,000 people have become victims of the scam. In total, 11 mobile applications have been identified as part of the fraud.

    As per FIA Cyber Crime Reporting Sindh chief Imran Riaz, the applications that are involved include, MCX, HFC, HTFOX, FXCOPY, OKIMINI, BB001, AVG86C, BX66, UG, TASKTOK, 91fp.

  • Pakistanis lose almost 1800 crore in crypto-related scam

    Pakistanis lose almost 1800 crore in crypto-related scam

    Pakistanis have lost almost 18 crore in a crypto currency related scam. Almost 55,000 people have become the victim of the scam, Samaa has reported. In total, 11 mobile applications have been identified as part of the fraud.

    As per FIA Cyber Crime Reporting Sindh chief Imran Riaz the applications that are involved include, MCX, HFC, HTFOX, FXCOPY, OKIMINI, BB001, AVG86C, BX66, UG, TASKTOK, 91fp.

    The victims of the scam were promised excessively large returns on their investments by the companies involved, in exchange for bringing in additional investors.

    “They used to give assurance that you won’t lose your money,” said one of the victims. “Some of the users even went all the way to level-8 and when they lost their money, they [the scammers] refunded them.”

    However, on December 19, the apps went down, and everybody who put money into them lost it all. (FIA) has written to international company Binance, requesting an explanation of how money was transferred from Binance accounts to other apps.

    On January 12, 2022, Hamza Khan, the general manager of Binance in Pakistan, has been summoned to appear before the agency.

  • PayPal allows crypto buying and selling

    PayPal has announced that its users in the United Kingdom (UK) will now be able to purchase, sell, and hold bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies starting this week, Reuters has reported.

    Customers will be able to buy bitcoin, ether, litecoin and bitcoin cash through their PayPal wallets online or on the mobile app.

    “The pandemic has accelerated digital change and innovation across all aspects of our lives— including the digitisation of money and greater consumer adoption of digital financial services,” said Jose Fernandez da Ponte, Vice President and General Manager, Blockchain, Crypto and Digital Currencies at PayPal.

    “Our global reach, digital payments expertise, and knowledge of consumer and businesses, combined with rigorous security and compliance controls provides us the unique opportunity, and the responsibility, to help people in the UK to explore cryptocurrency. We are committed to continue working closely with regulators in the UK, and around the world, to offer our support—and meaningfully contribute to shaping the role digital currencies will play in the future of global finance and commerce.”

    Bitcoin is the world’s biggest digital currency, which hit a record high of nearly $65,000 in April before tumbling below $30,000 in July as Chinese regulators extended a crackdown on the market. It has since recovered to a price of $48,400.

  • Waqar Zaka appointed crypto expert by KP Govt, says will work for free

    The Government of Kyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on February 4, 2021, appointed Waqar Zaka as an expert on digital assets (Cryptocurrency & Cryptomining). Zaka was the host of the wildly popular reality show Living on the Edge and is now a YouTuber.

    The Directorate of Science and Technology of KP formed an advisory committee on the “resolutions and recommendation” of KP’s assembly.

    Advisor to Chief Minister (CM) KP on Science and Technology Ziaullah Khan Bangash has been appointed the chairperson for the advisory committee while KP Minister for Finance Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra has been appointed Senior Vice Chairman.

    Sharing the news on social media, Zaka said: “I’m hired as a crypto expert by the government of Pakistan, and I have decided not to charge a single penny and I will provide all my services for free.”

    Along with the official notification, Zaka also shared a video expressing disappointment with the Sindh government for not taking the necessary steps on digital assets.

    “I have contacted the concerned IT person who is working for the Sindh government, and I can show all WhatsApp messages that I have sent to him,” said Zaka. “I have also talked to many people from Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) but no one has taken it seriously.”

    “I will work for free. All province should launch their coin, and Pakistan can generate lots of revenue through digital assets. It will also bring innovation in the processes of tax collection. People should ask Bilawal Bhutto, chairman of PPP, that why these facilities aren’t provided to the common people,” added the host.

    It is noteworthy to mention that KP is the first province in Pakistan to legalise crypto trading, and the administration is planning to launch its own cryptocurrency.

  • Waqar Zaka claims he can settle Pakistan’s debt if given chance to run the country

    Waqar Zaka has claimed that he can pay off Pakistan’s debt using crypto currency if given the chance to “run the country”.

    “I can pay off Pakistan’s debt using crypto[currency] but the condition is Imran Khan, should step down and let me run the country,” wrote the reality show host on social media.

    Zaka also asked supporters of the ruling party what they have to pay off the debt.

    “If not, then Pakistanis should demand what solution respectable, olive plantation, tourism, anti-corruption lovers IK has?” asked Zaka, challenging “all politicians” to present a better idea.

    Meanwhile, Twitter had a field day over Zaka’s Tweet.

    https://twitter.com/bouquetvibes/status/1389650242224590848

    Waqar Zaka got famous from the reality tv show, Living on the edge. Earlier this year he submitted his documents to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to launch his own political party. Zaka has been at the forefront of many trending causes including demanding cancellation of exams and ban on PUBG and TikTok.

  • Bitcoin hits all-time high of $62,712 USD

    Bitcoin hits all-time high of $62,712 USD

    Bitcoin (BTC) has hit an all-time high of $62,712, according to analytics from CoinGecko. The price of one BTC is currently comfortable at $62,700.

    The flagship digital currency has been on an impressive journey, with its price increasing at a rate of almost 6 per cent in one week. The new all-time high (ATH) comes only a day after crypto evangelist and investor Coinbase went public yesterday.

    Crypto expert Jason Deanen who works at Quantum Economics, says that “Bitcoin has been testing the resistance levels for some weeks now, bouncing off each time but immediately coming back undeterred. Today’s ATH was inevitable as sheer market momentum, investor sentiment and accelerating rate of development act as primary drivers.”

    Other than BTC, most digital currencies in the crypto top 20 also experienced similar hikes. Ethereum is up 4.91%, Binance 43,65%, and Uniswap is up by 12.04%

    Bitcoin has again boosted investor sentiment amongst the community. Experts and traders are of the view that the BTC will climb even higher, perhaps as high as $400,000, with current trends looking bullish as ever.

    Antoni Trenchev, who is a Crypto investor and preacher, declared: “I do not doubt that this bull run is far from over.”

  • Turkey trades over $6bn worth of cryptocurrency every day

    When President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan replaced the head of the central bank in March 2021, thousands of people rushed to convert the Turkish Lira into cryptocurrencies. 

    There are two largest crypto exchanges in the country, Paribu and BtcTurk, and they are trading over $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency every day. The 11 most popular crypto exchanges in the country have a $6 billion aggregate trade volume as per the local Turkish media.  

    The interest of Turkish people and specifically research centres has increased drastically. 

    “From the very beginning of Bitcoin, Turkish people have been eager for and interested in cryptocurrencies, so it is not a new thing like in Venezuela or Argentina”, said a lecturer at the Kadir Has University in Istanbul, Turkey.  

    In 2020, the Turkish Information Technologies and Communications Authority published a report stating that more than 2.4 million Turkish individuals trade-in cryptocurrency, making up 3% of Turkey’s population. 

    Note that the average daily registrations of Turkish users on the British cryptocurrency exchange CEX.IO since 14th March are 783% more than in February, according to the company’s managing director.

    Since Turkey has no regulations for traditional crypto exchanges, peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto trading platforms such as Binance and Coinbase have seen traffic increase since January 2021. 

    It is noteworthy to mention that between 2019 and 2020, new registrations on crypto exchanges rose 10%, while in February this year, they were 3x times higher than the average month in 2020, according to CoinDesk.

  • Manchester City of English Premier League launches cryptocurrency for fans

    Manchester City of English Premier League launches cryptocurrency for fans

    Amid the record high performance of cryptocurrencies in the financial market, Manchester City of the English Premier League has launched their own “$CITY-crypto” token in the market.

    The English club and Socios.com partnered to launch the cryptocurrency that offers fans the option to claim huge club promotions, rewards, AR-enabled features, and other exciting stuff.

    The football club has partnered with a digital entertainment company ‘Animoca’ to develop and circulate blockchain games for the fans. These will be the first-ever digital assets created for Manchester City.

    The $CITY token can be traded like any other cryptocurrency and redeemed for goods and services available across the global crypto-market.

    Moreover, football clubs of Italy, Juventus and AC Milan, Spain’s Barcelona and France’s Paris Saint-Germain have all put out tokens through the company before, which is run by a Maltese group called Chiliz.