Ammon News - The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) has called on all Jordanian postal companies, both international and domestic, to prohibit trading with virtual assets and cryptocurrencies, which has become an "increasing" phenomenon.

In a TRC statement on Sunday, its chairman, Ghazi Jbour, said the ban on cryptocurrency trading emanates from TRC's role to regulate Jordan's postal sector to protect the services beneficiaries' interests.

Cryptocurrency trading involves "multiple" risks, such as money laundering and exposure to cybercrime, in addition to the "rapid" fluctuation in its value, profit or loss, as it is a virtual currency away from actual assets, according to Jbour.

Jbour added that the TRC "continuously" monitors all postal operators, which sometimes entails issuing or amending instructions aimed to regulate services, adding that money transfers are deemed "postal services in which virtual assets are traded."

The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), which is the Kingdom's financial supervisory authority, has earlier prohibited all banks, financial institutions, exchange companies, and payment card companies from dealing with cryptocurrencies "under any possible circumstance."

The CBJ said cryptocurrencies are "unreal nor legal currency" as no central banks worldwide pledge to exchange its value for government-issued cash, per its decision.