Saudi Arabia is a wealthy country thanks to the vast oil reserves the Middle Eastern country has been sitting on since it was founded in 1932. Considering the fact that petroleum will ultimately become much less valuable than it is today, Saudi Arabia's government and most wealthy people have begun to invest in opportunities outside of oil and petroleum in hopes of maintaining their wealth throughout the future. Although Saudi Arabia has been investing in startups, tech companies, and virtually all other opportunities, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority - or SAMA - announced just yesterday - on Sunday, August 12, 2018 - that owning or trading cryptocurrencies is illegal within the bounds of Saudi Arabia. The Capital Market Authority - this Saudi Arabian government agency consists of various ministries, including the Ministry of Commerce and Investment and the Ministry of Media - put together a group of government officials to form a committee that ultimately decided cryptocurrencies simply weren't kosher - take kosher in a figurative sense, not a literal one. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia made clear in a statement to the public that its governance did not recognize coins, tokens, cryptocurrencies, and any other type of digital currencies; as such, because the Saudi Arabian government does not recognize the asset-cum-currency class. Saudi Arabian officials went on to say that the reason the aforementioned committee decided to do away with digital currencies is that they're extremely volatile and did not - not even in the slightest sense of the word - constitute a solid investment. The committee further indicated that plenty of "negative consequences" were associated with their trade. While digital currencies aren't inherently bad, the Saudi Arabian government simply doesn't want its people to lose any of the countless tens of billions of dollars they've worked hard for over the past 80-odd years; if just one half-wealthy person loses their fortune because they traded whatever assets they had in favor of cryptocurrencies, the nation effectively loses money that it could have used to grow - or, at the very least, maintain the same size.