9 Countries Have Banned Crypto

According to the Global Anthology of Crypto Regulations, 51 countries have placed some level of ban on the crypto industry on different levels, according to a report published by the Global Legal Research Directorate (GLRD) of the Law Library of Congress.

The report was originally published in 2018 but has since been updated with new findings. Absolute bans refer to those that make cryptocurrencies illegal. They also refer to placing bans on cryptocurrency exchanges from operating in the jurisdiction. While the 2018 report identified 8 jurisdictions with an absolute, and 15 with an implicit ban, the November 2021 update identifies 9 jurisdictions with an absolute ban and 42 with an implicit ban. Implicit bans refer to those which prohibit banks or other financial institutions from dealing in cryptocurrencies or offering services to people or businesses that involve crypto. They also refer to placing bans on cryptocurrency exchanges from operating in the jurisdiction. The Library of Congress report details nine countries that have placed absolute blocks on crypto. These countries are Algeria, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Nepal, Qatar, and Tunisia. Among them, China has made the biggest headlines throughout the year.

Since 2017, the Chinese government has banned cryptocurrency trading, however, it doubled down this year after cracking down on crypto mining. This resulted in a huge geopolitical shift among miners to other parts of the world. The United States is now the largest mining market, with Kazakhstan and Russia coming in second and third, respectively.

On this report we found 21 countries that haven’t apply for, anti-money laundering or counter-terrorism financing regulations on the crypto industry. These include Brazil, Guernsey, Jordan, Pakistan, and Kazakhstan.

Here is a link to the original report: https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/llglrd/2021687419/2021687419.pdf