In Brief:
- The Library of Congress released a report stating the number of nations banning crypto has doubled in 3 years.
- Nine countries have imposed an outright ban on crypto, and 42 others have imposed an implicit ban.
- 103 countries have tried to regulate crypto through tax legislation, anti-money laundering, etc, since 2018.
The Library of Congress(LOC) of the United States released a report stating that the number of nations banning crypto has doubled since 2018.
The report titled ‘Regulation of Cryptocurrency Around the World: November 2021 Update’ mentions that nine countries have imposed an outright ban on cryptocurrency, as well as 42 others have implemented an implicit ban.
The number of countries increased from eight and fifteen, respectively, since the report’s initial update in 2018. An outright ban of crypto in any country means any “transactions with or holding cryptocurrency is a criminal act.”
Egypt, Iraq, Qatar, Oman, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Bangladesh, and China are among the nine new countries with an outright prohibition of crypto.
While an implicit ban prohibits crypto exchanges, banks, and other financial firms from “dealing in cryptocurrencies or offering services to individuals/businesses dealing in cryptocurrencies.”
103 countries have tried to regulate crypto through tax legislation, anti-money laundering, and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) legislation, or even both.
This is a rise of 212.12% since 2018 when only 33 jurisdictions were found to regulate crypto. Except for Bulgaria, these jurisdictions comprise European Union member states.
The rise in the number of nations that have banned or regulated crypto in the last three years shows no signs of slowing down even though the crypto market saw huge profits in 2021. India’s much-awaited crypto bill was not presented in the Winter Session of the Parliament but Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman already clarified that the country will not accept Bitcoin as a legal tender.
