Here are the latest details from Bank Al-Maghrib

Adil Zoubir highlighted, during his speech at a seminar as part of the 14th session of the United States-Africa Business Summit, the apprehensions of the Central Bank vis-à-vis digital currencies, in specifying that in 2017, BAM had published a press release relating to the use of these currencies. “It was not a ban, but rather the institution was adopting the language of warning, given the risks that these cryptocurrencies pose to consumers. he clarified.

“We are vigilant on this issue. A bill is being prepared in Morocco with the aim of legalizing cryptocurrency trading platforms. In France, for example, the licensing system has been adopted so that these platforms can provide their services to users,” said the manager.

According to Adil Zoubir, the legalization in question will allow these platforms to operate in Morocco in complete safety, especially since this project raises risks of money laundering and terrorist financing. “Furthermore, today’s crypto asset transfers are characterized by fluctuations,” he noted.

In addition, the absence of a legal framework has not prevented Moroccan courts from ruling on cases related to the transfer of capital without authorization from the exchange office, because it is necessary to switch from the dirham to another currency such as the euro or dollar to acquire digital currencies.

Indeed, a dispute in this sense took place and the verdict, against the accused, was a sentence of one and a half years in prison, and a fine of 100,000 dirhams, and 11.2 million dirhams and 2.2 million dirhams to the administration of Customs and Indirect Taxes.

It should be noted that the founder and CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange “Binance”, Zhang Bing Zhao, visited Morocco last week where he was welcomed by officials of Bank Al-Maghrib specialized in cryptocurrency, and he also met Abdellatif Jouahri, wali of Bank Al-Maghrib, for a few minutes.

As a reminder, Abdellatif Jouahri had previously announced that his department is working on the issue would study it better and then propose a bill to regulate this new monetary niche.

“Bank Al-Maghrib had apprehensions when crypto-currencies took over the world, and we considered them then and still today as crypto-assets and not crypto-currencies,” said Adil Zoubir, who oversees the financial markets and payment systems infrastructure within BAM.

The same source indicates that France grants licenses to trading platforms dedicated to these new currencies, adding that Morocco will adopt a model similar to that of France.