The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) renewed its warning on Tuesday against dealing in all types of encrypted virtual currencies, pointing out in a statement that these currencies are surrounded by high risks, including significant fluctuations in their value and their use in financial crimes and electronic piracy.
It added that they are not issued from any official central issuing authority that can be referenced, and therefore lack any physical cover that guarantees the stability of the currency and protects the rights of its dealers.
The CBE explained that this comes in light of its follow-up to the phenomenon of cryptocurrency trading through some regional and international platforms, which has been remarkably promoted in recent times.
It pointed out that the Law of the CBE and the banking system promulgated by Law No. 194 of 2020 prohibits issuing, trading, or promoting cryptocurrencies, creating or operating platforms for their trading, or carrying out activities related to them, and whoever violates this shall be punished by imprisonment and a fine of no less than EGP 1m and not exceeding EGP 10m or one of these two penalties.
The CBE stressed that dealing inside Egypt is limited to the official currencies approved by it only, stressing that dealers in the Egyptian market should be very careful and not engage in dealing with these high-risk currencies.
