Nepal Blocks Crypto Sites
2023.01.10 01:25
Nepal Blocks Crypto Sites
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – Internet service providers (ISPs) in Nepal have been instructed to block all cryptocurrency trading websites and threatened with legal action if they do not comply.
The Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) issued a notice on January 8 directing ISPs and email service providers to block access to crypto-related “websites, apps or online networks.”
It reiterated that crypto transactions in the country are illegal and stated that virtual currency transactions “are increasing in recent days [translated].”
In a notice issued in September 2021, the country’s central bank, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), declared cryptocurrency trading and mining illegal. The act of “encouraging” others to use cryptocurrency is also illegal.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTA) issued a similar cautionary note regarding cryptocurrency websites in April 2022, requesting that the general public inform the regulator if they possess information “related to the name of such website, app, or online network.”
Although it did not call for a block on access to crypto services at the time, the notice in April also made the threat of legal action if “anyone is found to have done or been doing” crypto-related activities.
However, a report published in September 2022 by the blockchain data company Chainalysis revealed that emerging markets, including Nepal, are at the forefront of global crypto adoption despite the fact that cryptocurrency is illegal in the nation.
Nepal’s adoption of cryptocurrencies placed it in the top 20 worldwide, 16th overall, ahead of the United Kingdom.
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According to information obtained from the Law Library of Congress and published in a report in November 2021, Nepal is one of only nine nations that have completely outlawed cryptocurrencies.
China, Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Qatar, and Tunisia are additional nations.
