Myanmar’s financial services regulator is not a fan of digital currencies, and it has made its stand quite clear. The Central Bank of Myanmar has recently announced that it had outlawed the use of cryptocurrencies in the country. However, crypto supporters in the Southeast Asian country believe that the law is on their side, and the decision by the central bank won’t last. The central bank stated it didn’t recognize digital currencies as legal tender and prohibited all commercial banks from accepting or facilitating transactions made in crypto.
Interest in crypto surged in the past few years in Myanmar.
According to the Myanmar Times report, the country has seen a surge in digital currency interest in the past few years. The surge in interest in crypto hasn’t gone unnoticed by the regulators. In a drastic move, the central bank has banned the use of cryptocurrencies in the country. The Central Bank of Myanmar further warned that anyone who trades in cryptocurrencies stands facing penalties, including imprisonment and heavy fines. The East Asian country is not the first one to announce a banking ban on crypto. Several other nations have or had imposed such bans on the crypto industry.
The Myanmar crypto community is unfazed by the central bank’s decision.
The crypto community in Myanmar is unfazed by the strict warning of the central bank. According to the traders, the regulator has no authority to make such declarations or to implement them. They believe that such notifications must be supported by legislation, and as it stands, no law prohibits the trading of digital currencies in Myanmar. Nyein Chan Soe, the founder of GetMyanmar, a crypto platform, said that the CBM had not prohibited the use of crypto under the law. It has just issued an announcement. As there is no official law, it can’t be said that trading crypto is illegal in the country. Any government can not control cryptocurrencies like bitcoin that are decentralized in nature; therefore, its use can not be prohibited entirely.
