ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Erbil’s local security forces (Asayish) on Tuesday issued a warning against cryptocurrency and foreign exchange (ForEx) trading, saying both practices are illegal and their promotion forms grounds for legal repercussions. 

“ForEx and cryptocurrency companies in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq are disallowed and have no official licensing, there are no laws or guidelines for regulating these sorts of activities,” read a statement by the Asayish, warning that every form of cryptocurrency and ForEx trading is “illegal”.

Less than two months before the decision from Asayish, Iraq’s Rafidain Bank in a statement in late February warned clients on using their cards for Forex trading, citing directives from the Iraqi Central Bank.

The warning comes only weeks after ForEx trader and entrepreneur Twana Saeed, a prominent player in the Kurdish ForEx space, showcased his collection of expensive cars in an interview, allegedly worth 1.4 million dollars.

In a statement he sent to The New Region via WhatsApp, Saeed said that “ForEx and cryptocurrency are now in the mobile phones of the majority of Kurdish individuals and they do it, how was it banned? The US and Europe could not control it, how can we?" 

He called on the government to "pass legislation and issue a set of conditions so that not everyone can enter and trade, and not everyone can establish a company," suggesting the "presence of a state-affiliated company" whereby they can supervise the process.

Saeed, who says that ForEx trading has made him wealthy, has time and again offered and promoted his courses of navigating and understanding the nuances of the market to the general public. 

“In regard to companies under various names, who work in ForEx [trading] and offer courses... [they are] illegal and disallowed,” the Asayish statement adds, “we warn all companies and brokers to abstain from advertising for ForEx and mineral trading, lest they face legal intervention.” 

Engaging and promoting in ForEx and cryptocurrency trading is a global phenomenon, with a huge international market all over the world and a market cap deep into trillions of dollars. 

The statement cites the “appeals of citizens and their loss of money,” in the trade market as the grounds for the decision, while urging people to “stay away” from such trades, to prevent material loss and wasting their money.