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Afghanistan

Kraken in Afghanistan: not available

Availability
Not available
Bitcoin in Afghanistan
Banned
Our rating
4.7
Review updated
2026-08-23

Bitcoin access is banned in Afghanistan

Read the legal section below before acting on anything here.

Bitcoin access is banned in Afghanistan, and Kraken does not serve residents of Afghanistan either: Afghanistan is on the list of restricted countries that Kraken itself publishes, quoted below with the date it was read. Cryptocurrency is banned in Afghanistan. Da Afghanistan Bank, the central bank, declared crypto trading forbidden in August 2022, and police in Herat shut down local crypto dealerships and arrested traders that same month.

Read the full Kraken review
Availability
Not available
Ranks in
127 country guides
Currency
Afghan afghani (AFN)
Headquarters
San Francisco, United States

Where this comes from

Kraken's help centre article "Where is Kraken licensed or regulated?", last updated August 17, 2026, closes on the exclusion side: under a Prohibited Regions heading it says it does not serve clients, or permit cash and crypto deposits, from 14 named regions: Afghanistan, Belarus, the Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Libya, North Korea, Russia, Sudan, South Sudan and Syria. Twelve of the 14 names map to the 231 countries this site covers; North Korea is not among them, and the Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk entry names three regions of Ukraine rather than Ukraine itself, which the list does not name. The page never says the list is complete, and Kraken's Global Terms of Service add that it may refuse any sanctioned or embargoed jurisdiction "or any jurisdiction where we may have restricted use of any services", so a country absent from the list is unlisted rather than confirmed. Japan is the one entry Kraken's own notice explains: it ceased operations there and deregistered from the JFSA as of January 31, 2023. Within the United States, residents of Maine and New York are also excluded, which the state pages carry separately. The list here is derived from https://support.kraken.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001368823, read on 6 September 2026.

Kraken: Where is Kraken licensed or regulated? (carries the Prohibited Regions list), last updated 17 August 2026

Platforms that state they serve Afghanistan

Our Afghanistan guide ranks no exchange yet.

Where Kraken does work

Kraken ranks in 127 of our country guides and lists 11 other countries it cannot serve. Every country, with rank and rails

Also not available in

Frequently asked questions

Is Kraken available in Afghanistan?

No. Kraken lists Afghanistan among the countries whose residents it cannot serve. Kraken's help centre article "Where is Kraken licensed or regulated?", last updated August 17, 2026, closes on the exclusion side: under a Prohibited Regions heading it says it does not serve clients, or permit cash and crypto deposits, from 14 named regions: Afghanistan, Belarus, the Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Libya, North Korea, Russia, Sudan, South Sudan and Syria. Our Afghanistan guide was last reviewed 2026-08-20 and the Kraken review on 2026-08-23.

Why does Kraken not serve Afghanistan?

Kraken names Afghanistan on the restricted-countries list it publishes, without a per-country reason. The list is quoted on this page with the date it was read; a country absent from it is unknown rather than served, which is why this site only says no where the operator itself does.

What platforms state that they serve Afghanistan?

Our Afghanistan guide ranks no exchange yet.

Is bitcoin legal in Afghanistan?

Cryptocurrency is banned in Afghanistan. Da Afghanistan Bank, the central bank, declared crypto trading forbidden in August 2022, and police in Herat shut down local crypto dealerships and arrested traders that same month. The ban remains in force, there is no licensing framework, and sanctions on Taliban-controlled institutions keep regulated foreign platforms out of the market entirely.

Where is Kraken available?

Kraken ranks in 127 of our country guides and lists 12 countries it cannot serve, Afghanistan included. Both lists are on the Kraken countries page.

Sources