United Arab Emirates (UAE) Central Bank Governor Mubarak Rashid al-Mansouri has issued a warning to the public against the use of virtual currencies as a medium of exchange, CoinTelegraph reported.
Addressing the Islamic Financial Services Board Summit, he claimed that digital currencies pose risks to the public as they can be utilized for such illegal acts as money laundering and funding terrorist activities.
Al-Mansouri stated that the risk of trading cryptocurrencies is real as shown in the sharp decline in their prices following the announcement of a ban on ICOs by several countries.
“The risks of trading in digital currencies clearly appeared when the prices of digital currency fell sharply after some countries announced a ban on using initial coin offerings,” he said.
The UAE Central Bank had earlier rejected proposals to issue licenses for the trading of virtual currencies in the country. This prevented the cryptocurrency exchanges to offer their services locally.