Jamal Al-Farouq The Government of Sri Lanka’s central bank is telling everyone to be careful with cryptocurrency (digital money). They warned that there are huge risks when dealing or investing in it. Cryptocurrency are not treated as official investments and the government does not recognise them in Sri Lanka.
CBSL’s Warning
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka recently gave a warning to the public about the risks associated with using and investing in cryptocurrency. They received complaints that people lost money while one was even scammed. So they are recommending everyone be careful when dealing with crypto investments.
The central bank warned us back in 2018 to 2022 about the big problems that could pop up from dealing in crypto currency. Now those things have happened, like companies going bankrupt or crypto currencies crashing and losing their value. The central bank is reminding us again how risky it is by saying these issues really do exist.
“It is important to remember that in Sri Lanka, cryptocurrencies are not officially accepted as a type of money or investment tool and do not have any legal protection.”
On March 18, 2021, the countries central bank released new rules that put restrictions on how Electronic Fund Transfer Cards (that includes both debit and credit cards) can be used with virtual currency transactions. The CBSL said that cryptocurrency is bad for the country since it doesn’t help our economy and can make people lose a lot of valuable foreign money.
The central bank is warning people about increasing numbers of people pretending to invest money in cryptocurrency. These people are tricking individuals into investing their hard-earned money with fake promises of high returns, without any legal or regulatory protection. In the end, these scams cause people to lose their money.
The central bank said that it has not given permission to anyone or any business to have schemes that involve cryptocurrency. And it added that it has also not approved Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) or anything similar, mining operations with crypto, crypto exchanges, taking deposits related to crypto, or giving advice on investing in crypto.
Sri Lanka’s Central Bank (CBSL) has warned that people should not invest or trade in crypto-currencies because of the risks associated with them. CBSL has urged that this kind of activities can cause financial loss to the public. Do you agree with the warning given by CBSL? Let us know what you think about this topic in comments below!
