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Zimbabwe Regulates Crypto: $500 Annual Fee, Criminal Penalties
Zimbabwe requires crypto businesses to register with the FIU and pay $500 a year or face criminal charges. The move ends a de facto ban on the sector.
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Zimbabwe will require all cryptocurrency businesses to register each year with the Financial Intelligence Unit and pay a $500 fee. Operating without that approval is now a criminal offence under regulations issued by Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube.
The rules cover any company buying, selling, transferring, or safeguarding virtual assets. The FIU, an anti-money-laundering body inside the central bank, will handle oversight.
The move marks the end of a de facto ban. Zimbabwe barred financial institutions from handling crypto in 2018, pushing most trading onto peer-to-peer platforms, Telegram groups, and informal brokers. That underground market is now illegal for operators.
The shift reflects the country's long struggle with monetary instability. Hyperinflation in the late 2000s wiped out savings. Repeated currency changes eroded trust in banks. That history drove demand for Bitcoin (BTC) as an alternative store of value and a way to move money outside the formal system.