Prohibition on dealing in Virtual Currencies (VCs)

Prohibition on virtual currencies bars regulated banks from providing VC-related services and mandates three-month exit.

Entities regulated by the central banking authority are prohibited from dealing in virtual currencies or providing services that facilitate such dealing, including maintaining accounts for exchanges, registering, trading, settling, clearing, transfers related to purchase or sale of virtual currencies, accepting virtual tokens as collateral, and lending against them; existing service relationships must be exited within three months, and the direction is issued under powers in the Banking Regulation Act, the Reserve Bank Act and the Payment and Settlement Systems Act.