East African nation, Burundi, has imposed a complete ban on cryptocurrency trading, according to Bloomberg. 

Alfred Nyobewumusi, a director at the central bank’s micro-finance department said “Strong measures could be taken against all those who will not respect this decision.”

This makes Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies illegal in Burundi. 

However, what happens to the individuals who have bought these digital assets before the ban and whether holding would be criminal is unclear since the ban explicitly states ‘trading’.

These types of crypto news bring to light how little the decision makers are educated about the blockchain and cryptocurrency. 

For instance, you may technical ban cryptocurrency trading on a registered exchange, how are you going to ban it on a Decentralized Exchange (DEx)?

Instead of taking a negative stance, governments should leave it with a 'warning' that investors could lose all of their investments.  Case in point, CFDs lose money 89% of the time, however, it is still legal in most countries with a simple 'disclaimer'.  

The key difference in CFDs vs. cryptocurrencies is that CFDs benefit the big banks and institutions who spend billions in lobbying while there seems to be no one lobbying for cryptocurrencies.