The wali of Bank Al-Maghrib, Abdellatif Jouahri, recently announced that a bill aimed at regulating the use of cryptocurrencies in Morocco will see the light of day. What are the market’s expectations of this bill? The point in this interview with Badr Bellaj, a specialist in blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
Speaking at the press briefing following Bank Al-Maghrib’s second quarterly meeting of 2022, Abdellatif Jouahri said that a committee is at work to put in place an adequate regulatory framework to combine innovation, technology and consumer protection.
In this respect, the wali of the central bank stressed that several aspects will be taken into consideration for the development of this bill, in particular the world experiences in the matter. He thus noted that benchmarking is underway with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) to carry out the necessary consultations in this regard. If to date nothing filters on the content of this bill, Badr Bellaj, specialist in blockchain and cryptocurrencies, delivers the expectations of the players in this market which is arousing more and more interest among Moroccans.
Le360: Bank Al-Maghrib is currently working on the development of a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. How do you read this bill?
Badr Bellaj: We have been asking since 2017 for the regulation of the use of cryptocurrencies in Morocco. It is therefore very good news to know that Bank Al-Maghrib is finally considering the drafting of a bill to provide a legal, clear and precise framework to get out of the vagueness that has prevailed until now despite the great interest Moroccans relate to these virtual currencies and the evolution of their use around the world.
Now, it remains to know and discuss the content of this bill, although personally, I do not expect very much. I think that this bill will be limited to defining what is a cryptocurrency, an NFT (non-fungible token, editor’s note) and other concepts related to virtual currencies, without going back on the bank’s decision. authority to prohibit their use in Morocco.
Why do you think Bank Al-Maghrib will not lift the ban?
I hope I’m wrong, but that’s my reading of the situation. All we know about this bill, so far, is that it is being prepared in collaboration with the World Bank and the IMF, and so I think that Bank Al-Maghrib’s position will remain aligned with that of these two organizations that are quite reserved on the issue and who remain skeptical about the use of cryptocurrencies, especially since Bank Al-Maghrib has already expressed itself, despite the absence of the legal framework, to simply prohibit the use of cryptos in Morocco.
It is therefore not today that the central bank will reverse its basic position. But it’s still a good step to take to clarify the situation, define certain concepts and perhaps decide on certain exceptions, initially, to open the door to the debate afterward and adapt little by little to the context. international.
What are your proposals in the context of this bill?
I would have liked Bank Al-Maghrib to open discussions with players in the blockchain market and the world of finance before this project sees the light of day. A discussion at the national level, including all stakeholders, would have made it possible to understand why, despite the ban, the use of cryptocurrencies by Moroccans remains important.
What we want today is a legal framework adapted to the specificities of the Moroccan market in order not only to protect consumers from the risks of using cryptos but also to guarantee their right to invest freely. All we can do now is wait for this law to see the light of day so that we can evaluate it and give our opinion.
Ideally, what needs to change today?
I think that ideally you should lift the general prohibition and define specific cases of prohibition, such as money laundering, for example. It is also necessary to consider investment in cryptocurrencies like all other types of traditional investments, in order to allow the already existing laws to regulate this type of activity as well.
It is also necessary to grant licenses to cryptocurrency exchange platforms so that they can operate in Morocco and, consequently, allow local platforms to emerge, to solve the exchange problem, and allow purchases and transactions to be made. sales directly in dirhams.
One last very important thing is to lift the ban on the repatriation of profits made so far by Moroccans holding cryptos abroad and operating on international platforms, to allow them to transfer these assets to their Moroccan accounts with a defined exchange rate.
The price of bitcoin has been falling for a few months. What are the reasons for this fall?
There are several factors to explain the latest drop in cryptocurrency prices. The first is the economic situation and the climate of financial instability at the international level. You should know that all markets are down, not just the cryptocurrency market. Today there is a correlation between the technology stock markets and bitcoin. Therefore, when these markets fell due to the effects of US central bank financial policy, the crypto market followed the same trend.
There is also another reason. These are the few incidents that have taken place in the crypto-sphere, with, for example, the crash of the Terra Luna project or the platforms that stopped the withdrawal of cryptocurrencies at the start of the fall in prices, which caused a panic that resulted in a snowball effect that accentuated the crash.
Will the price of bitcoin go up again?
We do not yet have short or medium-term visibility, but it is quite possible that prices will go up in the coming months, if the other markets go up, in particular, that of technology shares. It’s kind of a life cycle, driven by the correlation between the cryptocurrency market and the traditional markets. If the economy recovers, it is only natural that bitcoin will also rise, except that there is a significant risk of a recession in the global economy. The recovery will therefore take time.
