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Zimbabwe has introduced its first licensing regime for cryptocurrency businesses, requiring operators to register annually with the country’s anti-money laundering unit as authorities move to regulate the once-banned sector.
Finance Minister Muthuli Ncube signed regulations compelling firms involved in buying, selling, transferring or safeguarding virtual assets to pay $500 each year to the Financial Intelligence Unit, which operates under the central bank.
Trading without a valid registration is now a criminal offence.
The new rules mark Zimbabwe’s first attempt to create a legal framework for a sector that has operated mostly in the shadows since 2018, when the government barred financial institutions from dealing in cryptocurrencies.
That ban forced traders onto peer-to-peer platforms and social media, where transactions continued informally.
Trust in traditional banking collapsed after hyperinflation in the late 2000s wiped out savings and pensions. Repeated currency changes only deepened public scepticism.
As a result, many Zimbabweans turned to Bitcoin and other digital currencies as alternative stores of value and channels for transferring money outside the formal system.
Remittances, which remain a lifeline for many families, have also driven adoption. According to the World Bank’s Remittance Prices Worldwide report, banks remain the most expensive transfer channel.
Zimbabwe’s move follows a wave of regulatory action across Africa and beyond, triggered by high-profile exchange failures, fraud scandals and money laundering fears.
South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Mauritius are among the African nations that have already introduced rules for digital assets as crypto usage surges across the continent.
Between July 2024 and June 2025, sub-Saharan Africa received more than $205 billion in on-chain value – the total dollar value of cryptocurrency transactions recorded on blockchains – according to the Chainalysis 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index.
That figure represents a 52 percent jump compared with the previous year.
Jeffrey Mutambiranwa, a crypto trader based in Harare, welcomed the new regulations.
“This is a welcome development,” he told Reuters. “It’s also good for traders that they don’t have to operate underground.”
