The people of Pakistan have purchased cryptocurrency worth USD five crores in just six months, the country's vernacular media reported adding that Islamabad's premier investigation agency has started looking into the matter.
At least 1,064 people belonging to various private banks and foreign exchange firms carried 2,923 transactions worth billions of Pakistani rupees, according to Pakistan's vernacular media.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has started searching for investors and funders and as many as 1,054 accounts have been frozen.
The money laundering and tax theft angles have also been taken into the investigation, as per Pakistan's vernacular media.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had prohibited the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies with a circular issued by its Banking Policy and Regulation Department in April 2018.
Despite the ban, however, cryptocurrency like bitcoin have enjoyed growing popularity among investors in the country, Daily Pakistan reported.
In October 2021, a study revealed that Pakistan had witnessed a massive increase in cryptocurrency adoption during the past 12 months. The 2021 Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index ranked Pakistan the third highest in terms of index score, Daily Pakistan has reported.
( With inputs from ANI )
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