Legal Adviser, Dr. Youssef Al-Sharif, warned against dealing with unrecognized or unlicensed virtual and digital currencies, noting that the legislator in the Rumors and Cybercrime Law was keen to criminalize any form of violation with regard to dealing with these currencies without a license. from the competent authority.
Al-Sharif referred to Article (48) of the Rumors and Cybercrime Law, which states: “The penalty of imprisonment and a fine of not less than 20,000 dirhams, and not more than 500,000 dirhams, or one of these two penalties, for anyone who commits one of the following acts: advertising, promoting, mediating, or Dealing in any form, or encouraging dealing in a virtual currency, digital currency, stored value unit, or any payment unit that is not officially recognized in the country, or without obtaining a license from the competent authority,” explaining that this penalty applies if the crime is committed. through a computer network, an information technology means, or a website.
Al-Sharif explained, in video episodes broadcast by “Emirates Today” through its accounts, to shed light on the recently issued laws, the concepts of virtual currency and digital currency, as well as the two terms contained in the text of the article, namely the stored value unit and a payment unit that is not officially recognized in the state, stressing the importance of This is to know the things that individuals are prohibited from dealing and trading in without a license from the competent authority.
He stated that the virtual currency is its only field on the Internet, and only the contractors, or the people who deal with it, see it, because it is not cash, and it is not linked to a center or bank, and it is considered among the digital currencies, however, the digital currency is not required that it be virtual, because it More comprehensive about it, and among the advantages of virtual currencies, is the speed of dealing in it, ease of use, and among its disadvantages, that it can be hacked easily, and it does not provide a safe legal haven for investors because it is not regulated.
He added that the digital currency includes the virtual currency, but it is more private, and the clearest example of it is the “Bitcoin” currency, which has spread on a large scale, and the dealings in it by major companies have reached the level of the phenomenon, and it has not yet been legalized, but it exists, and it has a great demand for dealing In it, knowing that there are digital currencies that are secured in an encrypted form, unlike virtual currencies.
He explained that the stored value unit means the values that are stored on a digital chip of a card or other device, such as prepaid cards, such as the electronic dirham, or that are stored on a network via a computer or the Internet, such as payment platforms available on the Internet or electronic wallets.
And what is meant by the unit of payments recognized in the country is the approved payment methods, such as ATM cards and payment by approved cards.
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