Is Bitcoin legal in Saudi Arabia?

After the spread of the talks about it, many are wondering: Is Bitcoin legal in Saudi Arabia? Can it be used as an alternative to regular paper money? These and other questions interested in digital currencies want to know the answers to them, especially after the prices of these currencies have skyrocketed in recent years after they were worth only a few dollars at the beginning of their work, and the future. of financial transactions in the world depend on digital currencies?

Read more: What is Digital Economy.

What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a digital currency known in English as Bitcoin, that currency was created by Satoshi Nakamoto, and this name is not a real name for a person, but a pseudonym used for the developer or developers of this currency, which was created in 2008. In 2009, its Open Source Software System application was released. Bitcoin differs from the regular currencies known in all countries of the world as decentralized currency, which means that it is not subject to the supervision of any government agency such as banks or central banks responsible for the banking systems in all countries of the world.

To determine your market value, you depend on the trust of your dealers and traders. It is sent from one person to another through the Bitcoin network through an electronic method known as a "peer-to-peer" method, where it is exchanged between people directly without the presence of an intermediary such as banks, for example, to exchange that coin. Bitcoin is created through a process known as "mining," which is the use of custom types of high-performance computers with the ability to withstand high pressure to perform the mining process that consumes large amounts of electricity to mine that currency. . This process has been called mining by analogy with the process of extracting minerals from the soil, which requires great effort.

Is Bitcoin Legal in Saudi Arabia?

Bitcoin in Arab countries in general is not very well known, but it has started to spread relatively recently in many Arab countries, where it was used in one of the tea bars in Jordan, as well as in a restaurant in Dubai, and in Kuwait. There is also one of the shopping centers where the deal with this electronic currency is accepted. The matter is different in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where the Standing Committee for Awareness and Warning Against Securities Trading Activity in the Foreign Exchange Market (Forex) of the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia, which was established on the basis of the order of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, announced that trading or investing in digital currencies, including Bitcoin, is illegal. Legal to the Queen, and that these coins have not been approved by any of the Kingdom's government agencies. The committee warned all citizens and residents of the Kingdom not to deal with parties on the internet and social media platforms that claim to be licensed by government agencies, as no party grants a license to deal with these agencies, and invitations are made to people. With Promises of Profit Quick and huge financial gains are not without security, regulatory and market risks, as people dealing with these entities sign bogus contracts and requests to transfer funds to unknown parties. This exposes people to fraud and scams. Furthermore, the use of this currency in the Kingdom increases the suspicion of its use as a means of illegal financial transactions.

Bitcoin Price in Saudi Arabia

Many people interested in cryptocurrency in Saudi Arabia are looking for the value of Bitcoin relative to the Saudi Riyal. Before knowing its approximate value, it should be noted that the value of Bitcoin is not permanently fixed, since it depends on speculation, such as securities trading - the stock market, for example, but the most prominent difference between speculating on digital currency and speculation with stocks that are traded on the stock market is that the latter is subject to control. And it is managed based on standards and rules and has a degree of security, unlike Bitcoin, whose value changes up and down in an hour tens of times, and it is not possible to predict or identify the reasons that lead to its increase. or decrease in value. Overall, the price of Bitcoin in mid-March 2021 reached $ 55,000, or more than 206,000 Saudi Riyals.