The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), the country’s financial regulator, has banned cryptocurrency trading. Not only that, but the prohibition applies to anything of value that is close to or a substitute for currency, can be digitally transferred or traded and be sued for investment or payment purposes for clients.
The news comes from a report from the media outlet International Investment. According to the same report, Qatar has prohibited the overall virtual asset services in the country and such can no longer be conducted in or from the QFC.
These virtual asset services comprise a wide range of different services including the fiat/virtual currency conversions, crypto-to-crypto trading, and clamping down on crypto exchanges that manage issuance, trading and storage of such virtual assets. The prohibition applies also to any other financial services that are related to virtual assets.
Nevertheless, according to press, digital forms of securities and any other financial tool under the supervision of the Qatar Central Bank, the Qatar Financial Markets Authority or QFCRA will continue to be allowed and the prohibition does not apply to any of these.
While Arab countries are “special” in the sense that while regulation of cryptocurrencies plays a huge role in how crypto assets are traded and allowed in these countries, the Arab world has been “crypto friendly” for a long time now. For example, the UAE is one of the most advanced countries in terms of crypto development and opportunities, as LeapRate has reported several times.