Cryptocurrency Transactions Banned By Qatar Financial Centre Bans

On December 26, the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA) tweeted that virtual asset services, including crypto transactions are banned, and not allowed to be conducted in or out from the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC).

The regulator stated that authorized firms are banned from providing or facilitating exchange, trade or deal in virtual assets until further note. QFC notes that ”virtual assets” should be understood as anything acting as a substitute for currency, excluding fiat currency and other monetary instruments.

QFC was established as a business and financial centre with its own financial regulator and judiciary, offering a wide range of services for businesses who plan to expand to and from Qatar.

As it is stated on the official website, the organization currently supports over 500 firms with more than $20 billion in total assets under management.

Defining virtual services

Below you can see the definition of virtual services by QFC.

Qatar’s media outlet Al-Watan has recently published an article, which states that the country just introduced new Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing regulations. The governor of the Qatari central bank Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud Al Thani commented on the matter:

“The State of Qatar affirms that fighting money laundering and terrorist financing requires a strict and effective regulatory and legislative framework, whereby the powers and responsibilities of both government agencies and relevant ministries are defined in relation to combating money laundering and terrorist financing.”

Though some countries, such as Switzerland, recognized the potential of virtual assets, other see it as a threat to national monetary system and try to steer clear from it.

For instance, India’s central bank prohibited any services for cryptocurrency-related business.

In the end of April 2019 Indian regulators reportedly started drafting the Banning of Cryptocurrencies and Regulation of Official Digital Currencies Bill 2019, planning to ban crypto completely.

The same situation is in China, which placed a ban on cryptocurrencies back in 2017. Recently CryptoTheNews analyzed the present state of affairs in the country, regarding the ban on crypto trading.