Bahrain-based Rain Financial, a well-known trading platform for cryptocurrencies, is encouraging the domestic regulators to issue a legal framework for the enactment of crypto trading in Pakistan.
Talking to the media, Zeeshan Ahmed- the Rain Financial Country General Manager stated that the trading in crypto assets, digital currencies in which transactions are verified a decentralized system, exists currently in a regulatory “no man’s land”.
“There’s no law that declares crypto illegal. Have the authorities frowned upon crypto? Yes. But issuing a statement is one thing and translating it into a law is another,” Zeeshan Ahmed said.
Read more: Bahrain cryptocurrency exchange RAIN to launch in Pakistan
Previous SBP governor Dr. Reza Baqir stated in March the threats of using cryptocurrencies outstripped benefits. Earlier, the State Bank of Pakistan released a formal notification directing the general public to be cautious of, and abstain from, trading cryptocurrencies.
“Negotiations are taking place. These are large-impact decisions involving lots of ideas and proposals,” the Rain Financial GM said.
As per the data platform website Chainalysis, Pakistanis reserved profits of over $604 million in crypto trading in 2021. Pakistan is also one of the leading countries on the Global Crypto Adoption Index. This is regardless of the fact that the central bank does not recognize cryptocurrencies as legal tender and has not licensed any exchange to expedite their trading.
“We believe in regularised, licensed platforms. When we want to move into a market, we first engage the regulator and show it the value-add and benefits (of cryptocurrencies). Unregulated markets like Pakistan face capital flight and risks to individuals and institutions,” Mr. Ahmed said.
Moreover, Rain Financial was integrated in the sandbox of the Bahrain’s central bank in 2017 as a crypto asset company. The federal monetary authority released a crypto policy framework in 2018 and the company got its licence in 2019.
Mr. Ahmed added that the exchange is a key crypto trading platform in the markets it already operates in. The projected volume of crypto trading in 2021 was almost close to $100 billion. “Our share was $2 billion. A regional player currently, we’re poised to become a global one,” he remarked.
Mr. Ahmed also told the media men that momentary setbacks should not be interpreted as the final verdict of history. The current evolution of cryptocurrencies, according to him, is as important an event as the industrial revolution.
