A police team deployed from the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police for the first time arrested seven persons for allegedly running bitcoin exchange business from various parts of the country.

The suspects have been identified as Gyan Prasad Paudel of Sindhuli, Madhav Khanal of Arghakhanchi, Prashant Pratap Shah of Kathmandu, Bida Dhakal of Nuwakot, Mingmar Tamang of Sindhupalchok, Daman Basnet of Kathmandu, and Manish Kumar Giri of Rupandehi.

Issuing a statement on Friday, the CIB said that they were arrested from Kathmandu and Chitwan.

DSP Jeevan Kumar Shrestha of the CIB said that this is the first incident that the bitcoin operators have been arrested from the country.

“They have been kept at the police custody,” he said, adding, “The traded amount will be discovered after further investigation.”

He further said that if found guilty the suspects will be punished under the prevalent laws of Rastra Bank.

If convicted, the accused can face fine three times the amount in question and  jail term up to three years, he said.

Bitcoin is a type of digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank.