Foreign Exchange Act and Crypto Restrictions in Bangladesh: What You Need to Know in 2025
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Note: The legal status of cryptocurrency in Bangladesh is unclear. This calculator uses India's 30% tax rate as a reference point, but tax treatment may vary. Always consult a tax professional for official advice.
Important: The government has not officially defined crypto as taxable income. This calculation is based on India's tax rate for illustration purposes only. Actual tax treatment in Bangladesh remains uncertain and could change at any time.
It’s 2025, and if you’re in Bangladesh, owning or trading Bitcoin isn’t just risky-it’s officially banned. But here’s the twist: the law saying it’s illegal might not actually cover cryptocurrency at all. The government points to the Foreign Exchange Regulations Act of 1947 as the reason crypto is forbidden. Yet, that law was written before computers even had memory chips. And it doesn’t mention digital coins once.
What the Foreign Exchange Act Actually Says
The Foreign Exchange Regulations Act (FERA) of 1947 was made to control money flowing in and out of Bangladesh after independence. It defines what counts as "currency" in two very specific ways. First, it lists physical and paper instruments: banknotes, cheques, drafts, money orders, letters of credit. Second, it says the central bank can declare anything else as currency-if it publishes a formal notice in the official Gazette. Here’s the problem: Bitcoin, Ethereum, or any other crypto doesn’t fit the first list. And Bangladesh Bank has never issued that second notice. Not once. Not even in 2017, when they announced the ban. That means, legally speaking, crypto isn’t "currency" under FERA. So how can you break a law that doesn’t say crypto is illegal in the first place? Legal experts in Dhaka have pointed this out for years. Dr. B M Mainul Hossain, a finance professor at Dhaka University, says the ban is more about fear than law. "You can’t criminalize something that the law doesn’t define," he told a local financial journal in 2024. "This isn’t enforcement-it’s a warning with teeth."How the Ban Actually Works
Even if the law is shaky, the ban is real in practice. Bangladesh Bank told all banks and financial institutions in 2017: no crypto trading, no holding, no facilitating. That means if you try to buy Bitcoin using your local bank account, the transaction will be blocked. Credit and debit cards linked to Bangladeshi banks can’t be used on Binance, KuCoin, or any other exchange. If you try, your card might get frozen. But people still do it. How? Through underground agents. You find someone in your neighborhood who’ll take your Bangladeshi Taka in cash and send you Bitcoin through a peer-to-peer app. They make a small commission-maybe 2% to 5%. These agents don’t use bank accounts. They use mobile wallets, cash deposits, even hundi-style networks that have existed for decades. The government knows this is happening. They track dollar-denominated card transactions and monitor suspicious money flows. But chasing thousands of small cash deals? That’s nearly impossible.The Tax Paradox
Here’s where it gets even stranger. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) says crypto profits are taxable. Under the Income Tax Ordinance of 1984, if you sell Bitcoin for a profit, you owe capital gains tax. But here’s the catch: the thing you’re profiting from is illegal to own. So you’re being asked to report income from an activity the law says you shouldn’t be doing at all. No one has been prosecuted for not paying crypto taxes-because there’s no system to track it. The NBR doesn’t require exchanges to report transactions. There’s no crypto-specific tax form. You’re supposed to declare it on your regular income return, but most people don’t. Why? Because if you admit you made money from crypto, you’re also admitting you broke the law. This contradiction isn’t unique. It’s like being told you can’t drive a car, but if you do and get into an accident, you still have to pay for the damage. The system is broken by design.
How People Still Use Crypto
Despite the ban, crypto apps are still on the Google Play Store in Bangladesh. Binance, KuCoin, Bybit-download them, install them, and you’re ready to trade. No ID verification needed. No bank link required. You can buy crypto with a prepaid card, a friend’s account, or even through a local agent who deposits cash on your behalf. Many young professionals and freelancers use crypto to get paid for overseas work. If you’re a designer on Upwork or a writer on Fiverr, getting paid in USD via PayPal is slow and expensive. Crypto is faster and cheaper. Some even use stablecoins like USDT to protect their earnings from the taka’s steady depreciation. The underground market is growing. While there are no official numbers, regional estimates suggest Bangladesh’s crypto volume could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Pakistan, which just launched a national crypto authority in May 2025, has an estimated $25 billion informal crypto market. Bangladesh’s population is larger. Its youth are tech-savvy. And its banking system is slow. That’s a recipe for crypto adoption-no matter what the law says.How Other Countries Are Doing It
Bangladesh isn’t alone in banning crypto-but it’s one of the few still holding on to that stance in 2025. India, with a similar population and economy, took a different path. They taxed crypto at 30% and added a 1% tax on every transaction. In 2024-2025, they collected $1.8 billion in crypto taxes. Instead of fighting adoption, they taxed it. Pakistan went even further. In May 2025, they created the Pakistan Digital Assets Authority (PDAA), a government body to license exchanges, regulate wallets, and even allocate 2,000 megawatts of electricity for Bitcoin mining. That’s not a ban-it’s an infrastructure plan. Bangladesh’s approach is isolationist. It’s like trying to stop the internet by banning Wi-Fi. The technology doesn’t care about borders. People still use it. The only thing a ban does is push it underground, where it’s harder to monitor, harder to tax, and easier to exploit.
What’s Next?
The government knows the ban isn’t working. The National Board of Revenue is quietly reviewing tax rules for crypto. There are rumors of a new bill in the works-one that might finally define digital assets in law. But no timeline. No public consultation. No draft released. Legal scholars say two paths are possible. Either Bangladesh updates FERA to explicitly include crypto as a regulated asset-giving the ban a legal foundation-or it abandons prohibition and builds a regulatory framework like India or Pakistan. The first option would mean rewriting a 78-year-old law to cover digital coins. The second would mean admitting the ban failed. Neither is easy. But doing nothing? That’s not an option anymore. The underground market is too big. The demand is too strong. And the technology won’t wait.What This Means for You
If you’re in Bangladesh and you’re using crypto:- You’re not breaking a law that clearly defines crypto as illegal-you’re breaking a rule enforced by banks and police, not statute.
- You’re still responsible for taxes on any profit, even if the government doesn’t track it.
- You’re at risk if you use your bank account to buy crypto-your account could be frozen.
- You’re safer using cash-based agents, but those carry their own risks: scams, theft, no recourse.
- Don’t use your bank or debit card.
- Don’t store large amounts on exchanges.
- Keep records of every transaction-you might need them someday.
- Understand that this could change overnight. A new law could come without warning.
Rajesh pattnaik
November 25, 2025 AT 03:26Man, I’ve seen this same script play out in India too. The law’s stuck in the 1940s, but people are living in 2025. Crypto isn’t going away just because someone in a suit says so. The real story here isn’t legality-it’s survival. People need to get paid, hedge against inflation, and move money without begging the bank for permission. This ban is just theater with consequences.
Lisa Hubbard
November 26, 2025 AT 17:27You know, I just don’t understand why anyone would risk their entire financial life on something that’s technically illegal, especially when you live in a country where the government can just freeze your accounts without warning? I mean, sure, the law is outdated, but isn’t that the point? Laws are supposed to be stable. If you want to live in a gray zone, fine-but don’t act surprised when things go sideways. It’s not like anyone’s forcing you to do this. Just… don’t? I’m just saying.
preet kaur
November 28, 2025 AT 02:44As someone from India, I’ve watched my cousins in Dhaka quietly use crypto for years. It’s not rebellion-it’s necessity. When your currency loses 10% of its value in a year and banks take 3 days to process a simple transfer, crypto becomes the only real option. The government’s not stopping it. They’re just pretending they are. And honestly? I respect that. They know they can’t win. So they hide behind a 78-year-old law instead of admitting they’re out of ideas.
Amanda Cheyne
November 29, 2025 AT 01:24Wait-this isn’t even about crypto. This is a cover. The real agenda? They’re using this ban to justify mass surveillance. Every cash transaction through those ‘agents’? Tracked. Every phone number? Logged. Every P2P app? Backdoored. The government doesn’t care about Bitcoin-they care about controlling who moves money and when. And once they have that data, they’ll use it against dissidents, journalists, anyone who steps out of line. This isn’t finance. It’s social control. And they’re using FERA as a disguise.
David Hardy
November 30, 2025 AT 23:56Bro. The law’s a dinosaur. The people? They’ve already evolved. 😎 Just gotta find the right agent, use cash, and keep your receipts. If you’re making money off freelancing overseas? Crypto’s the only sane way. Banks are slow. PayPal takes 5% and 3 days. USDT? Instant. 0.5%. No questions. Just… do it. Stay smart, stay low, and don’t use your debit card. Easy.
Matthew Prickett
December 1, 2025 AT 04:47Okay but what if this is all a psyop? What if the government knows crypto’s unstoppable, so they’re letting it grow underground so they can later raid everyone’s wallets, call it ‘money laundering,’ and confiscate everything under ‘national security’? They’ve done it before-remember the demonetization? Same playbook. They want you to think you’re winning by using crypto, but you’re just building your own prison. One day, they’ll come for the ledger. And you’ll have no legal protection. None. Zero. You think you’re free? You’re just a target with a wallet.
Gus Mitchener
December 1, 2025 AT 21:48The structural incoherence here is emblematic of late-stage legal ossification. FERA, as a pre-digital statutory framework, lacks the ontological capacity to adjudicate non-sovereign, decentralized asset classes. The state’s reliance on an anachronistic regulatory lexicon reflects a deeper epistemic failure: the inability to transition from fiat-based territorial sovereignty to algorithmic, borderless value networks. The ban, therefore, is not merely unenforceable-it is semantically incoherent. One cannot criminalize that which the law cannot semiotically represent.
Jennifer Morton-Riggs
December 3, 2025 AT 14:40Look, I get it. You’re all like ‘oh the law’s old’ and ‘people are tech-savvy’-but have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe, the government has reasons? Like, what if crypto is being used to fund terror? Or launder drug money? Or bypass sanctions? I mean, sure, the law’s weird, but that doesn’t mean the fear isn’t real. People think they’re smart using crypto, but they’re just playing with fire. And when it burns them? They’ll blame the government. But it’s their own dumb choice.
Kathy Alexander
December 3, 2025 AT 18:19Wow. Another ‘crypto is inevitable’ article. Newsflash: just because people do something illegal doesn’t make it right. You’re romanticizing risk. You’re glorifying tax evasion. You’re pretending this is about freedom when it’s really about avoiding accountability. And the fact that you’re even calling this a ‘paradox’? That’s the problem. There’s no paradox. It’s just law enforcement doing its job. The rest of you are just making excuses.
Soham Kulkarni
December 5, 2025 AT 11:36my bro in dhaka uses crypto to pay his mom’s medical bills. bank takes 7 days, charges 200 taka, and sometimes just… cancels it. crypto? 5 mins. 5 taka. no drama. yeah the law’s dumb. but what’s dumber? watching someone suffer because the system won’t adapt. we’re not criminals. we’re just trying to live.
Tejas Kansara
December 7, 2025 AT 04:56Use cash agents. No bank links. Keep small amounts. Track every tx. If you get paid in crypto? Convert to USDT. Don’t hold BTC long. And never, ever tell anyone. Simple. Done. 🙌
Belle Bormann
December 9, 2025 AT 00:49Hey, I’m a tax preparer in the US and I’ve helped clients report crypto even when it was sketchy. The point isn’t whether it’s legal-it’s whether you’re honest. If you made money, write it down. Even if the government doesn’t track it, someday they might. And when they do? You’ll be glad you kept records. Don’t be the person who says ‘I didn’t know.’ You know now.
Sky Sky Report blog
December 10, 2025 AT 00:47The Foreign Exchange Act of 1947 was designed to stabilize a newly independent nation during a period of economic fragility. Its relevance today is a testament to institutional inertia rather than intentional policy. The absence of a formal gazette notice defining cryptocurrency as currency renders the ban legally indefensible. The state’s enforcement mechanisms, while effective in practice, operate outside the rule of law. This is not governance. It is administrative improvisation.
Jenny Charland
December 10, 2025 AT 07:25So you’re telling me it’s okay to break the law as long as it’s ‘for survival’? 😒 That’s not freedom, that’s chaos. And now you want me to feel bad for people who ignore the rules? What’s next? Robbing banks because ‘inflation’s too high’? Grow up. The law exists for a reason. If you hate it, move. Or lobby for change. But don’t act like you’re some digital Robin Hood. You’re just a rule-breaker with a wallet.
Emily Michaelson
December 12, 2025 AT 04:37One thing everyone’s missing: the real winners here aren’t the users. They’re the underground agents. They’re the ones collecting 5% from every transaction. They’re the ones with cash stashes and no paper trail. The government’s ban created a black market economy-and it’s being run by people with zero oversight. That’s the real danger. Not crypto. The middlemen.
Anne Jackson
December 14, 2025 AT 02:42Let me get this straight. You’re defending a system that lets people bypass national currency controls, avoid taxes, and operate outside the banking system-all because ‘it’s convenient’? This isn’t innovation. This is economic sabotage. Bangladesh is trying to protect its economy from collapse. And you’re out here cheering for people who undermine it with digital chaos. You think you’re helping? You’re just enabling a future financial crisis. And when it happens, don’t come crying to us.