'It should be that the crypto market has collapsed lately, there are a lot of issues apparently.'
Afghan crypto-investors are torn between either complying with Islamic law or fleeing the country.
It is understood that the Ministry of the Spread of Virtue and Prevention of Vice under the leadership of the Taliban who took the reins of government a year ago has gazetted cryptocurrency as gambling.
The matter has been reported by Chainalysis explaining that gambling is forbidden in Islam and therefore cryptocurrencies are classified as haram.
That streak, Chainalysis also reported that there has been a decline in the amount of crypto received by Afghans after enjoying a peak period of $150 million in August and September last year.
For the record, the Taliban takeover in August 2021 saw the use of crypto in the country soar and Afghanistan is listed among the top 20 countries that adopt the digital currency system.
However, it slowly declined in the following months with a large number of financial activities in the country involving money laundering from illicit sources including bribery or drugs.
Back to the original news, Chainalysis described the Taliban's involvement in Afghanistan as having contributed to crypto winter in the digital currency market with crypto investors having only 3 options; 'run outside, stop operations or be arrested'.
