More than 50 countries have placed restrictions on digital currencies

According to a report published by the Global Legal Research Directorate (GLRD) of the Law Library of Congress, 51 countries in the world have introduced various crypto restrictions.

This report was first published in 2018, and from then onward has been updated several times. The original version of the report said that there were 8 absolute and 15 implicit bans in the countries around the world, and in November 2021 there were 9 absolute and 42 implicit bans.

An absolute ban means that digital currencies are illegal in the country. An implicit ban prohibits banks and other financial institutions from conducting crypto transactions and offering their clients related services. Moreover, crypto exchanges cannot operate in states where implicit restrictions have been introduced.

There is an absolute ban in 9 countries, namely Nepal, Egypt, Tunisia, China, Morocco, Algeria, Iraq, Qatar and Bangladesh. The most notable news about restrictions appeared in the media were about China. India also may place a ban on cryptocurrencies, but during the last parliament winter session, a decision has not yet been made.

In 2017, the Chinese government prohibited digital assets trading, but this year the authorities began to make even more efforts to combat cryptocurrencies. For that reason, Chinese miners were forced to relocate to other countries.

Currently, the United States occupies a leading position in terms of cryptocurrency mining; Kazakhstan and Russia are in second and third places, respectively. Therefore, Kazakhstan has already suffered a shortage of electricity. As a result, crypto mining companies have to leave the country. This summer, a similar situation occurred in Iran, where the government restricted mining due to the heavy load on the power grid. But in the autumn licenced firms were allowed to go back to work.

Turkey, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Ecuador, Guyana, Moldova, Pakistan, as well as many African governments have imposed implicit bans. Alarmingly, in 21 of these countries, for example, Jordan and Pakistan, there are no anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations on the crypto industry. These standards are respected in 103 countries.