Taliban Crypto Ban: How Sharia Law Justifies the Bitcoin Prohibition in Afghanistan

When the Taliban took full control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the country’s banking system collapsed overnight. Foreign reserves were frozen, ATMs ran dry, and remittances from overseas workers-once the lifeblood of millions-vanished. In the chaos, Bitcoin and stablecoins like USDT quietly stepped in. For families relying on money sent from Pakistan or the UAE, crypto became the only way to feed their children. Then, on August 15, 2022, the Taliban announced a total ban: Bitcoin was now haram.

Why Did the Taliban Ban Bitcoin?

The Taliban didn’t just outlaw Bitcoin because it was new or foreign. They claimed it violated Sharia law. Their reasoning was simple: Bitcoin has no intrinsic value. It’s not backed by gold, land, or any physical asset. To them, that made it gambling-maysir-which is strictly forbidden in Islam. They compared it to betting on dice or card games. If you can’t touch it, hold it, or use it to buy wheat or wool, they argued, then it’s not real money.

Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), the country’s central bank, echoed this. In a public statement, they called cryptocurrency a threat to monetary sovereignty. They said it could undermine the Afghan afghani, fuel money laundering, and erode religious values. The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Afghanistan (FinTRACA) was given the job of enforcing the ban, using existing anti-money laundering laws-even though no new crypto-specific rules were written.

But here’s the contradiction: Bitcoin didn’t just appear out of nowhere. It filled a vacuum. After the collapse of traditional banking, over $740 million in crypto flowed into Afghanistan between July 2020 and June 2021, according to Chainalysis. That made Afghanistan the 20th most crypto-adopted country in the world. People weren’t trading Bitcoin for fun. They were using it to survive.

Sharia Law and Crypto: A Clash of Interpretations

The Taliban’s view isn’t the only one in the Islamic world. In fact, it’s one of the most extreme. Scholars in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and even Iran have taken different paths. The Dubai Islamic Economy Centre, for example, said in 2021 that crypto could be halal if used as a real medium of exchange-not for speculation. The OIC’s Fiqh Academy said much the same: crypto isn’t automatically haram if it serves a legitimate purpose.

Dr. Mohsin Choudhry, a scholar at the Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, wrote in 2022 that Bitcoin meets key Sharia requirements: it’s scarce, transferable, and can be owned. What matters, he argued, isn’t whether it’s digital-but how it’s used. If someone sends Bitcoin to their sister in Kandahar to pay for medicine, that’s not gambling. That’s charity.

The Taliban rejected all of this. Their interpretation is rigid. No gray areas. No exceptions. Even stablecoins like USDT, which are pegged to the U.S. dollar and used for daily transactions, were banned. The regime didn’t care if it helped a mother pay for her child’s insulin. If it wasn’t issued by the state, it was forbidden.

How the Ban Is Enforced-And Why It Fails

The Taliban doesn’t have the tools to stop crypto. They can’t shut down blockchain. They can’t trace every wallet. What they can do is arrest people.

In Herat, police raided 16 crypto exchanges in 2022. Dealers were thrown in jail. Phones and laptops were seized. In 2023, Human Rights Watch documented 112 arrests across 15 provinces. In one case, a man lost 1.2 Bitcoin-worth over $50,000 at the time-when his home was raided. His crime? Running a P2P trading desk out of his shop.

But the ban is crumbling under its own weight. In 2024, 38% of Afghans used crypto for remittances, up from just 2% before the ban, according to UNDP surveys. That’s over 10 million people. The Taliban can’t jail everyone. They can’t cut off the internet for weeks without causing mass starvation. And they certainly can’t stop people from using Telegram groups to send USDT via phone numbers.

A network called AfghanCryptoHelp on Telegram has over 15,000 members. Users share tips: how to use Trust Wallet without internet, how to trade via SMS when networks go down, how to avoid detection. One user posted a photo of a handwritten note: “Send 50 USDT to this number. I’ll give you cash in Kabul.” No app. No exchange. Just trust and a phone call.

Women and the Hidden War Over Financial Freedom

The ban hits women hardest. Under Taliban rule, women are barred from universities, most jobs, and even walking outside without a male guardian. Banks won’t open accounts for them. But Bitcoin doesn’t care if you’re a woman. It doesn’t need a passport or a male signature.

The Digital Citizen Fund trained 687 Afghan women in Bitcoin use between 2022 and 2024. Eighty-nine percent said it gave them new control over their lives. One woman used Bitcoin to pay for her daughter’s private tutoring-something she couldn’t afford through official channels. Another sent money to her brother in Turkey to help his family escape.

But the cost is high. Forty-two percent of these women reported being harassed or threatened by Taliban officials when caught using crypto. One woman was forced to hand over her private key after being interrogated for three hours. She lost $8,000. She didn’t report it. No one would listen.

Roya Mahboob, an Afghan tech pioneer named one of Forbes’ Most Powerful Women in 2023, put it plainly: “Bitcoin isn’t a luxury. For many women here, it’s the only thing keeping us alive.”

The Paradox: A Ban That Makes Crypto Stronger

The Taliban’s ban has backfired. Instead of killing crypto, it made it more essential. On-chain activity in Afghanistan grew 37% annually from 2022 to 2024. Monthly P2P trading hit $4.2 million in early 2025. USDT dominates-68% of all transactions-because it’s stable, easy to use, and tied to the dollar.

Even the regime’s own actions undermine the ban. A December 2023 UN report revealed Taliban border officials were accepting Bitcoin payments to let goods cross into Pakistan. The same officials who arrest traders are quietly using crypto themselves.

The internet blackouts-like the 48-hour nationwide outage in October 2024-should have killed crypto. Instead, they forced innovation. People started using SMS-based blockchain tools. By Q1 2025, over 12,500 Afghans had signed up for “CryptoSMS,” which lets you send Bitcoin via text message without an app.

What’s Next for Crypto in Afghanistan?

The Taliban says the ban is permanent. Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar said in February 2025: “Digital currency has no place in an Islamic system.” But economic reality is louder than ideology.

Afghanistan’s GDP shrank by over 20% between 2021 and 2023. Eighty percent of the population lives in poverty. The Afghan afghani is worth less than half of what it was in 2020. People need alternatives. And Bitcoin is the only one that works.

Experts believe the regime will eventually be forced into a compromise. Iran, another theocratic state, banned crypto trading in 2022-but still allows mining under strict licenses. Afghanistan might follow. Maybe they’ll allow P2P transfers if they’re small, or if they’re used for humanitarian aid. Maybe they’ll quietly look the other way.

But for now, the ban stands. And so does the resistance.

Every time someone in Kandahar sends $50 in USDT to their cousin in Kabul using a borrowed phone and a Telegram bot, they’re not just moving money. They’re rejecting a system that says they don’t deserve to control their own lives. They’re proving that when people are desperate enough, even the most rigid laws can’t stop the flow of freedom.