Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and FIA Cyber Crime are struggling to decide the mechanism for blocking cryptocurrency websites.
The PTA has written a letter to the FIA Cyber Crime Wing seeking more information about links and the law under which cryptocurrency websites can be blocked. According to PTA sources, the federal watchdog’s Cyber Crime Wing has identified a list of 1600 websites and requested PTA to block them, but the problem is that most of the websites or links are already not working. Some websites are doing other businesses, and have side links to cryptocurrency.
Furthermore, there is no section of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, the Foreign Exchange Remittance Act, 1947 (FERA), or the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010 (AMLA) that deals with the illegal use or misuse of cryptocurrencies.
The telecom regulator is unclear on the law under which these websites and links should be blocked, and the PTA has requested more details about these websites. The FIA Cyber Crime had written a letter to PTA for blocking 1,600 websites and links.
According to FIA Cyber Crime sources, FIA has compiled lists of cryptocurrency dealers and operators, and soon a crackdown will be started in this regard. FIA sources claim that there is no progress in investigations as an understanding of technology is also an issue.
It is noteworthy that Binance experts are helping the FIA Cyber Crime team in this regard to understand the technology. According to experts, cryptocurrency utilizes blockchain technology. One who wants to investigate matters of cryptocurrency should have knowledge of blockchain technology. In the future, blockchain experts will be needed in FIA Cyber Crime Wing to investigate these matters.
To recall, the Federal Investigating Agency started a criminal investigation a few weeks ago after receiving numerous complaints against an ongoing scam that involved misleading investors into sending funds from Binance wallets to unknown third-party wallets.