Egypt's central bank prohibits issuing cryptocurrencies or carrying out activities related to them

CAIRO – 28 March 2021: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) emphasized the importance of adhering to Article 206 of the Central Bank and Banking System Law promulgated by Law No. 194 of 2020 prohibiting the issuance of cryptocurrencies, trading in them, promoting them, establishing or operating platforms for their trading or implementing activities related to them.

CBE indicated in a statement, Sunday, the high risk involved in dealing in these currencies where it is dominated by instability and extreme volatility in the value of its prices; This is a result of the uncontrolled global speculation that takes place on it, which makes investing in it risky and portends the possibility of a sudden loss of its value as a result of not issuing it from any central bank or any official central issuing authority.

In the context of following up on the news circulating about cryptocurrency virtual currencies such as the "Bitcoin" currency, the Central Bank pointed out that these currencies do not have tangible physical assets and are not subject to the supervision of any regulatory body worldwide. Consequently, it lacks the guarantee and official government support enjoyed by official currencies issued by central banks.

The Central Bank of Egypt emphasized that dealing in the Arab Republic of Egypt is limited to the official currencies approved by the Central Bank of Egypt only, and the Central Bank of Egypt calls on dealers in the Egyptian market to be very careful and not to engage in high-risk informal currencies.