TechFlow reported on June 11 that the International Monetary Fund, in its latest annual assessment of Nepal, said the country has maintained a complete ban on crypto trading and mining since 2021, but crypto-related inflows have continued to expand. The IMF said inflows involving crypto assets and stablecoins grew rapidly between 2019 and 2024, placing these activities within the scope of its review of Nepal’s capital controls and financial stability monitoring.
According to the figures cited by the IMF, Nepal’s crypto and stablecoin inflows once exceeded 13% of GDP in 2021. By 2024, the figure had rebounded to about 8% of GDP. Cross-border flows were estimated at around 5% of GDP. These numbers indicate that, even under a formal prohibition, crypto assets and stablecoins continued to move through cross-border channels at a measurable scale.
The IMF recommended that Nepal establish a crypto regulatory framework in line with international standards and strengthen monitoring of stablecoins and unbacked crypto assets. The Fund said the goal is to prevent the use of such assets to evade capital controls and to reduce the risk of large-scale deposit outflows. It also urged Nepal to complete the FATF action plan and work toward exiting the grey list.