The fund’s annual assessment said stablecoin and crypto inflows stayed significant through 2024, prompting calls for tighter monitoring across the financial system and completion of Nepal’s FATF action plan.
Crypto and stablecoin inflows into Nepal expanded sharply between 2019 and 2024 even after the country imposed a full ban on crypto trading and mining in 2021, the IMF said in its latest annual assessment. The fund said those inflows briefly topped 13% of GDP in 2021, later rebounded to about 8% in 2024, while cross-border flows were about 5% of GDP. The findings suggest digital-asset activity has remained material despite the prohibition, leading the IMF to urge Nepal to strengthen monitoring of crypto activity across its financial system and complete its FATF action plan to exit the gray list.