Crypto Regulation in Morocco
Morocco has banned Bitcoin and cryptocurrency transactions since November 20, 2017 (Office des Changes, 2017). The ban has not been met with any resistance except from those who have stakes in the cryptocurrency space in some sort of way. Any existing resistance has been unnoticed because it has been limited to a small virtual community since then. The following is an example of people’s opinion of the government:
“hiding its head in the sand by focusing on vague risks and did not measure the benefits we could reap from Bitcoin and the blockchain technology to solve thorny issues in our country.”
Source: Science Direct
Bank Al Maghrib’s Governor (Central Bank of Morocco) Abdellatif Jouahri, announced on the side-lines of a press conference in late June 2022, that the institution is working on a draft law regulating cryptocurrencies in the country.[1] This has been the first signal that the country is intent on creating a legal framework for Bitcoin (hereafter referred to as BTC), the cryptocurrency industry as well as the underlying technology called ‘Blockchain’. Morocco has been late in adopting a clear stance about the industry as only in 2017 that it first published a memo to outright ban the currency[2], and has done so again in 2021[3]. The country is sending mixed messages as to the use of Bitcoin, cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, preferring to focus on the latter, and has been awaiting clearer international legal frameworks before stepping up to regulate the use of the asset within the Moroccan economy.
Source: MiPa
As of early August 2022, holding and trading in cryptocurrencies in Morocco is punishable by law under an official decree.
Despite the ban, Morocco’s central bank, Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM), announced in recent months entering into talks with the IMF and other countries to establish a regulatory framework that could pave the way for future adoption.
Source: Morocco World News
Morocco banned digital assets in November 2017, when the market was seeing its first major bull market and an implosion in ICOs. This was the year when most governments took notice of digital assets, with many issuing warnings against the “unregulated and volatile” assets.
It was also a year in which several major companies started exploring digital currency payments. In Morocco, MTDS, a local web hosting services provider, was among those that took the bold step and started accepting digital currency payments, a move that accelerated the government’s anti-digital currency stand.
Source: Coin Geek
Not Available
Many governments are wary of digital assets and have advised their citizens to stay away, fearing a disruption of their monetary system. Then a few have gone all out and banned digital assets altogether. Morocco ranks among the latter, but with adoption soaring even amidst the ban, the North African country is reconsidering its stand.
Morocco banned digital assets in November 2017, when the market was seeing its first major bull market and an implosion in ICOs. This was the year when most governments took notice of digital assets, with many issuing warnings against the “unregulated and volatile” assets.
Source: Coin Geek
Not Available
This joint press release was a warning by the Moroccan authorities that the cryptocurrency remained a speculative, risky, and illicit asset. It was highly discouraged for Moroccans to use it, as that would amount to an illegal act, and would not protect their investment. The timing of the release came at the height of the speculative fever of 2016-2017, in which the price of bitcoin reached new all time highs (19,000 $ USD at the time),and was forming essentially a ‘speculative bubble’ before crashing down during 2018, and entering a long bear market (Bear Market being a stretched down depreciation of prices during a long period of time). During the period of 2018-2020, there was not a single effort by the country (at least publicly) to initiate a legal framework for the use of Bitcoin, or any other digital asset.
Source: MiPa
Not Available
