Cambodia blocks access to 16 crypto exchange websites

Apps still active, highlighting challenges in managing booming market

20241202 Cambodia crypto Tether

Banks and other financial institutions advertising money changing services between the stablecoin Tether, or USDT (left), and other formats, including fiat currency can be found easily in Phnom Penh (right). Offering such services violates a 2017 ban imposed by the National Bank of Cambodia. (Photo by AFP/Jiji and Danielle Keeton-Olsen)  

DANIELLE KEETON-OLSEN, Contributing writer

PHNOM PENH -- Cambodia has blocked access to 16 cryptocurrency exchange websites, including Binance and Coinbase, but not their apps, highlighting the country's struggle to manage the illegal but booming crypto market.

Facing international pressure to improve its reputation as a hub for the cyberscam industry, the Cambodian government's attempts to regulate cryptocurrency and other digital services have had little impact on the decentralized nature of crypto trade, while also cutting off established industry players.

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