Tunisia rethinks imprisonment of crypto traders

After a 17-year-old got arrested for performing a single crypto transaction, officials see the need to decriminalize DeFi

Tunisian Minister of Finance, Ali Kooli, has publicly announced his plans to change the country’s cryptocurrency laws during a television interview over the weekend. He urges crypto trading to be decriminalized, after a 17-year-old was arrested by Tunisian police in April for performing a single crypto transaction, seeing international disapproval and outrage across the Tunisian crypto community.

Many see insufficient clarity on regulatory measures as cause for the arrest. Indeed, Tunisia has not released any crypto licensing framework or guidelines, while the central bank had issued a warning earlier this year, deterring investment by stating Bitcoin and similar exchanges were of a speculative nature. However, there is no clear law justifying the arrest the crypto kid in April.

In fact, despite the hostile nature of the government, crypto trading had boomed in the beginning of 2021, seeing a 11% trading volume increase in the first trimester, according to Carthage Magazine.

Crypto trading has seen heavy resistance by several governments across Africa, while at the same time, the continent is leading in mass adoption of currencies like Bitcoin. Finally, Tunisia will be adhering to the calls of the community, and provide a legal framework, according to the plans of Ali Kooli, as was reported on Coindesk.

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