The State Bank of Pakistan which is the central bank of the country has taken objection to the association of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) with a couple of sponsors for the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The regulator has taken the step against the sponsors who are related directly or indirectly to cryptocurrency. According to the central bank, the association with a cryptocurrency unit is a contradiction of the national stand on virtual currencies.
The Senior Joint Director of SBP Yaser Arafat in a letter copied to the secretary of, the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination, Islamabad, and the secretary of the ministry of finance, wrote about how promoting the crypto-currency will "entice the viewers of Pakistan to enter the prohibited domain of crypto/virtual currencies."
"It has been observed that PCB has engaged Best Fintech Investment Coin (BFIC) as the 'Official Technology Partner' of PSL Season 8. We would like to highlight that BFIC is a crypto-currency and in terms of SBP's BPRD circular No 33, dated April 6, 2018, all Banks/DFIs/Microfinance Banks and Payment System Operators/Payment Service Providers have been prohibited from dealing in/promoting virtual currencies.
"This represents the regulatory stance of SBP on cryptocurrencies/virtual assets. Therefore, promoting a cryptocurrency through the event of PSL 8 would not only contradict the aforesaid stance but would entice the viewers of Pakistan to enter the prohibited domain of crypto/virtual currencies," the letter said.
The letter further said, "Apparently both these websites/domains are foreign controlled and thus any usage of their services by residents of Pakistan would result in the outflow of precious foreign exchange of the country. Since, neither these entities nor PCB has obtained any permission from SBP to take out of Pakistan any money earned by them from resident Pakistanis, any transfer of funds from their operations in Pakistan will be in violation of the Foreign Exchange Regulation ACT, 1974 (sic)."
