Are Bitcoins still banned in Pakistan?

I just got back from a trip to Pakistan and was surprised to find out that Bitcoins are still illegal there. Seriously, how do people even trade in the global market without using modern digital currency? It's crazy. Anyway, when it comes to Bitcoin trading, there are tons of identity checks involved. I usually verify identities using different services like Shufti Pro, Trulioo, Jumio, Sumsub, etc. Can anyone here recommend which service provider I should go with for my transactions?

I don't understand your sentiment because the news is looks like Bitcoin and the crypto currency can be use in Pakistan legally. In fact, they want to create their own crypto. Here is the link for your reference. https://www.ccn.com/pakistan-will-issue-its-own-digital-currency-by-2025/

there has been no change since bitcoin and other virtual currencies were banned last year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_bitcoin_by_country_or_territory#South_Asia it seems like south asia is particularly hostile towards bitcoin. there's an absolute ban in nepal and india is mulling over a similar ban too. are you talking about transacting on a bitcoin exchange? it's not usually up to the end user to decide which 3rd party verification service gets used. that's up to the exchange.

The ban is still on and there is no hope that soon this can be lifted. Pakistan, India and yes Nepal are countries with political leaders who are afraid of what Bitcoin can do to their people and the economy. Unlike other countries that are already open for Bitcoin, they see a different vision and a different way of thinking on cryptocurrency. People can however own Bitcoin discreetly but converting into local cash can be difficult as there is no legal exchanges operating within these countries. I am hoping then that India and Pakistan (two big countries with a lot of potential) will change its direction and will instead introduce a stricter legal treatment of Bitcoin. At the end of the day, people by large will always be following the dictates of their government so we might not see substantive adoption of Bitcoin in these places.

Even though there is complete ban for cryptos in Pakistan people still find a way to trade them, example : https://localbitcoins.com/instant-bitcoins/?action=buy&country_code=PK&amount=&currency=PKR&place_country=PK&online_provider=ALL_ONLINE&find-offers=Search So could use the p2p exchange for trading your cryptos but you are not going to find better deal.

Yeah, it is true But it will may b alow in Pakistan but not yet. I don't know about their own crypto. by the way thanks for inform me and send me this useful link.

Bitcoin's Legality page in Wikipedia isn't really that accurate anymore it's not that updated and literally anyone can edit it. Just by searching the words "Bitcoin Pakistan" you will see a lot of crypto exchanges, wallets, and  news signifying that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are allowed to be traded in Pakistan. So I'm not really aware of Bitcoin's status in Pakistan and it might be best if you consult the ones living there about it (here is their local thread), but even if the country has officially declared Bitcoin illegal you will see no enforcement of what type making it possible for this kinds of trades to happen, of course the only thing bad here is if you get scammed or your cryptos are stolen then you don't have the right to claim or retrieve the illegal asset with the help from their authorities.

what happens to regulations proposal at the beginning of the year on cryprocurrency? As all those promises been reversed? the adoption rate had always been low and lots of political and financial factors can be responsible. Pakistan is not that type of country that can handle such technology careful except there are non government intervention.

After reading this I am also getting confused about the legality of bitcoin in Pakistan,someone posted an article where there is no restrictions to use bitcoins in Pakistan and there is no restrictions from banks as well and it also considered as halal  based on Sharia law so people from Pakistan still using it and country may not aware of it?!

It seems like in China, even after government ban and crackdown bitcoin, exchanges, and miners, people still be able to trade bitcoin. There is no way to fully block bitcoin even if there is a law that state you will be in jail if get caught trade bitcoin People in Pakistan can do otc to cash out or using localbitcoins, just like this one https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=232519.msg52327046#msg52327046

Not only on localbitcoin,they have lot of choices even local exchanges allowing them to do since their central bank have no rules against the purchase of cryptos,but in China they shutdown exchange only people able to work without their country's knowledge but here sites are active in that country itself.

Correct me if i'm wrong but i think that Bitcoin was never banned in China but only the ICO projects and the foreign exchanges because they believe that ICO is fall of scam that they are just protecting their people from it and China if full of patriotism that they don't want to depend on international markets that is why they will just rely with their own local exchanges only. https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-is-property-chinese-court-rules-no-crypto-ban-contradiction

These bans are meaningless. Just use something like bisq or localbitcoins and buy BTC from someone outside of Pakistan. If you need more help or you are new to buying BTC, let me know. I can provide more assistance, and I am sure other members of this community can help too.

I mean you have to understand where the OP is coming from and based on the replies above, bitcoin is not legal in Pakistan. It's really hard to understand why government like Pakistan doesn't want bitcoin, just like India, maybe they are just afraid that it can be used by terrorist, just my opinion. To the OP, I assumed you haven't heard that inter-government across the globe are enforcing the so called KYC. If you really wanted to buy bitcoin or trade then you have to used DEX, like Bisq.

I would not wonder why some governments are afraid of Bitcoin or think that Bitcoin can do them harm more than good. In the same that we have governments who are not open to the ideals of democracy and empowering the people, there will always be those that will not allow people to own and trade cryptocurrency. Maybe some have misconceptions about this based on what they usually hear and see in the mainstream media especially the possibility of being a tool for terrorists, money launderers and scammers. Considering that countries such as India, Pakistan, China and even Russia have huge number of population and with a good number of them aged between 20-40, these could have been one of the best grounds fro cryptocurrency to thrive and prosper. Sadly, we can not force those in power to change their mindset, at least for now. Let's just continue hoping that years down the road, there will be new leaders coming on-board that can bring in new perspective and can see the many benefits and advantages of cryptocurrency.

The government is indeed have their own thinking/perspective who different with us who knows cryptocurrency and its function can help our daily activites. And we can't blame them, even I just thinking let them feel slowly the effect of this technology because I'm sure if the country will always ban cryptocurrency maybe it will be outdated country. You can see now, the developed country have started to make their own cryptocurrency such as china and maybe the european countries will follow the idea. It is just because they will feel there is a problem who can't be solved such as sending money to different country who will take a long time (I had an exprience for this case and it took several days). But when you use cryptocurrency it just need one minute to solve it. So, this is just the matter of time, sooner we will see there are a lot of country who accept cryptocurrency well and even they will use them to help some problems as I have said above.

Hope you all are well. There was talk of Pakistan in this discussion, so I am from Pakistan too, and I am sad to say that there is no such thing in our country. Even if it is, most people are not even aware of it. And the other services you are referring to are not even here, because the people here have no importance for security such as "face detection algorithm" and that is why most of the country is unable to develop. Other countries are developing because they offer such services as the per priority. Security is something that everyone needs. Whether he is rich or poor, illiterate or ignorant. Thanks.

In this case, Bitcoin in Pakistan is still a heated conversation between the government and its users bitcoin. Many pros and cons, for me the laws made against bitcoin users in Pakistan are very wrong, in fact bitcoin can grow the economy of the people of Pakistan well. There are several methods you should read about the illegal bitcoin in Pakistan, For example: source: https://99bitcoins.com/buy-bitcoin/pakistan/ In my opinion, this news can be a bright spot for you, how is Bitcoin right now in Pakistan.

That is truly correct mate   That country you said are hate bitcoin because of the difficult reaaon like india the hate bitcoin because they believe investing in bitcoin is gambling because of nin stable price and too much risky to invest , but hoping times oficial of pakistan givernment open their minds and understand well the help of bitcoin for the economic growth in the future.