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Morocco Considers Launching a Central Bank Digital Currency

Although bitcoin was banned for use in Morocco four years ago, the cryptocurrency continues to thrive there.

Updated Sep 14, 2021, 12:14 p.m. Published Feb 20, 2021, 9:23 p.m.

Morocco’s central bank, Bank-Al-Maghrib (BAM), is investigating the benefits of launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

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BAM has launched an exploratory committee to investigate the pros and cons of a CBDC four years after banning cryptocurrencies, according to a Morocco World News report.
Morocco’s central bank is continuing to take a cautious approach due to the "speculative nature" of cryptocurrencies, the report said.
BAM’s new committee will seek to identify and analyze the advantages and drawbacks of CDBCs for the Moroccan economy, said the report.
Previously Morocco has expressed concern around the lack of regulation around cryptocurrencies and warned the use of virtual currencies entails significant risk for users.
Although bitcoin was banned for use in Morocco four years ago, the cryptocurrency continues to thrive in the country, with Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya being the only African countries with more trading volume.

Morocco CBDCs CoinFlash

Tanzeel Akhtar

Tanzeel Akhtar has contributed to The Wall Street Journal, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Forbes Africa, Financial Times, The Street, Citywire, Investing.com, Euromoney, Yahoo! Finance, Benzinga, Kitco News, African Business Magazine, Hedge Week, Campden Family Office, Modern Investor, Spear's Wealth Management Magazine, Global Investor, ETF.com, ETF Stream, CIO UK, Funds Global Asia, Portfolio Institutional, Interactive Investor, Bitcoin Magazine, CryptoNews.com, Bitcoin.com, The Local, The Next Web, Mining Journal, Money Marketing, Marketing Week and more. Tanzeel trained as a foreign correspondent at the University of Helsinki, Finland and newspaper journalist at the University of Central Lancashire, UK. She holds a BA (Honours) in English Literature from the Manchester Metropolitan University, UK and completed a semester abroad as an ERASMUS student at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. She is NCTJ Qualified - Media Law, Public Administration and passed the Shorthand 100WPM with distinction. She does not currently hold value in any digital currencies or projects.