Zimbabwe legalizes crypto; VASPs must register with RBZ
Statutory Instrument 99 of 2026 requires VASPs to register with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, implement the FATF travel rule and pay a $500 annual fee.
Zimbabwe formalized its cryptocurrency sector with Statutory Instrument 99 of 2026, gazetted in June. The regulation requires virtual asset service providers to register with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and comply with anti-money-laundering rules, including the Financial Action Task Force travel rule. Registered entities must pay a $500 annual registration fee. The central bank’s anti-money-laundering division will supervise compliance and enforcement.
The instrument defines virtual asset service providers, or VASPs, as commercial entities that help users buy, sell, move or store digital assets. The rule ends regulatory uncertainty that followed a 2018 central bank directive that barred financial institutions from processing crypto-related transactions.
Companies that provide custody, exchange, transfer or transaction-routing services must establish a legally registered domestic subsidiary and submit directors to background checks. Firms must also carry out customer identification, ongoing transaction monitoring and file reports as required by the Reserve Bank.
The regulation takes a technology-neutral approach. Decentralization alone will not exempt an operator from oversight. Any organization or operator able to alter a smart contract, route funds or set transaction fees is treated as exercising control and must meet VASP registration and reporting obligations.
Local fintech entrepreneurs have warned that compliance costs may be high, pointing to the expense of creating domestic entities and building the systems needed for ongoing reporting and travel-rule messaging. Government officials described the goals as strengthening anti-money-laundering controls and aligning reporting and cross-border information sharing with international standards.
The statutory instrument does not declare cryptocurrencies legal tender. It focuses on bringing digital-asset businesses into the regulated financial system through licensing, customer due diligence and cross-border information-sharing requirements.
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