KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: Bahrain-based Rain Financial, a trading platform for cryptocurrencies, is vying to set up its office in Pakistan after getting legal permission. The company, at present, is persuading local regulators to issue a framework to declare legal crypto trading in Pakistan.
Rain Financial Country General Manager Zeeshan Ahmed told media that the trading in crypto assets — digital currencies in which transactions are verified and recorded by a decentralised system, currently exists in a regulatory system known as “no man’s land”.
Former governor of State Bank of Pakistan Dr Reza Baqir said in March this year that the risks of using cryptocurrencies are greater than benefits. Earlier, the central bank issued a formal notice advising the general public to be cautious of, and stay way from trading cryptocurrencies.
Rain Financial GM said, “Negotiations are taking place. These are large-impact decisions involving lots of ideas and proposals.”
He, however, hoped the authorities will realise the benefits of formalising an activity that’s already going on outside of the regulatory ambit.
According to Chainalysis, Pakistanis earned profits of more than $604 million in crypto trading during 2021. Pakistan is also among the top-ranking countries on the Global Crypto Adoption Index. This is despite the fact that the central bank doesn’t recognise cryptocurrencies as legal tender and, as such, hasn’t licensed any exchange to facilitate their trading.
