Online Reporter
Martin Kadzere
For years, digital currencies in Zimbabwe existed in a grey zone, neither legal nor illegal, watched warily by the central bank, but never fully confronted.
That ambiguity ended last week.
The Government gazetted Statutory Instrument (SI) 99 of 2026 to govern crypto currencies.
From now on, virtual asset businesses must operate just like traditional banks: know their customers, keep transparent records and answer directly to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).
With the new law, if you are a trader using a crypto mixer, a diaspora parent sending money via a peer-to-peer app, or a start-up running a smart contract protocol, the law now has you firmly in its sights.
This is no longer about regulating tech firms with offices. This is about the code itself.
Promulgated by the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, the SI — formally titled the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime (Virtual Asset Service Providers Registration) Regulations, 2026 — imposes sweeping anti-money laundering (AML) controls and corporate localisation requirements under the direct supervision of the FIU.
It establishes a broad regulatory net by defining a VASP as any person or entity providing services related to digital assets.
Moving beyond brick-and-mortar tech firms, the law actively captures operators of software protocols, smart contracts and decentralised applications (dApps) if they commercially market or control such systems.
Any entity facilitating virtual asset trading must register with the FIU, incorporate locally, maintain physical business premises and employ at least two resident directors in Zimbabwe at all times.
Applicants must submit valid tax clearances and fresh police clearance certificates for all beneficial owners and directors, who will then be subjected to exhaustive “fit and proper” evaluations.
A registration certificate must be renewed annually.
To strip the digital asset market of its anonymity, the regulations incorporate the globally mandated “Travel Rule”, forcing platforms to use the InterVASP Messaging Standard to immediately transmit verified data bundles containing the full names, wallet addresses and physical IDs of both payers and payees during any virtual asset transfer.
For transfers exceeding US$1 000 that interact with private, self-hosted cold storage wallets, registered platforms are legally obligated to execute cryptographic wallet ownership proof, such as a cryptographic signature or the “Satoshi Test”, to establish that their client genuinely controls the external account.
Under Section 6, a platform’s inability to identify, monitor or mitigate risks associated with anonymity-enhancing mechanisms, specifically naming crypto mixers and tumblers that obfuscate blockchain records, constitutes immediate grounds for the rejection or total revocation of an operating licence.
The law initiates an aggressive crackdown on peer-to-peer (P2P) systems, unhosted wallets and crypto mixers, closing off traditional avenues used to move capital outside the banking network.
The Government has backed the regulations with stiff penalties, introducing a US$10 000 fine and criminal liability for false applications, alongside statutory fines reaching up to US$50 000 per violation for firms failing to retain resident directors or an independent, locally resident compliance officer.
Section 14 grants the director-general of the FIU expansive discretionary powers to bypass standard notifications and suspend a VASP’s registration with immediate effect if a delay poses an immediate threat to public or financial stability, forcing an instant shutdown of trading activities.
For the average Zimbabwean using crypto to receive remittances from a relative in the United Kingdom or South Africa, the new law creates a clear dividing line. If you use a registered platform that displays a visible FIU registration number and QR code, your transaction is now legally protected.
The platform must verify your identity, but it also must safeguard your funds and report suspicious activity.
You have recourse if something goes wrong.
If, however, you use an unregistered platform — perhaps a telegram-based peer-to-peer trader — you are now operating entirely outside the law.
The FIU will actively hunt these operators, and if you lose money, no regulator will help you recover it.
The law is particularly hostile to three categories of service: peer-to-peer systems that match buyers and sellers without central oversight, unhosted wallets that users control entirely (such as Trust Wallet or MetaMask) and crypto mixers or tumblers that obscure the trail of coins.
Any transfer exceeding US$1 000 to or from a private wallet now triggers mandatory “wallet ownership proof.”
In plain English, the platform must force you to cryptographically prove that you actually own that external wallet.
If you cannot, the transaction stops.
For diaspora families, the message is blunt: Stick to registered exchanges, or risk your remittance being blocked mid-transfer.
The Government has backed these rules with fines that would cripple most small operators.
False information on a registration application carries a US$10 000 fine and possible criminal charges.
Operating without a licence? The FIU can shut you down overnight with no prior warning, a power granted under Section 14 of the new regulations.
Mr Jabulani Chibaya, an artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain expert, offers this advice to the public: “Any platform offering crypto services in Zimbabwe must now be officially registered.
“Users should verify this by checking the FIU public registry or scanning the required digital QR code before depositing a single cent.
“Using an unregistered platform means operating entirely without regulatory protection or legal recourse.”
Writing on his LinkedIn profile, Mr Chibaya noted: “Crypto is now treated like banking. The same principles of knowing your customer, reporting suspicious transactions, maintaining records, having fit and proper management and operating transparently now apply to the virtual asset businesses just as they do to traditional financial institutions.”
But not everyone loses.
For legitimate, well-capitalised crypto businesses, the new framework is a blessing.
Regulatory ambiguity is toxic to investors. A clear, strict rulebook unlocks banking relationships, foreign capital and international partnerships that were previously impossible.
Mr Chibaya pointed out that the new regulations are a welcome development for legitimate operators, as a structured environment eliminates the reputational risks of sharing a market with rogue entities.
He added that the framework establishes a level playing field while unlocking vital banking relationships, foreign investment and international partnerships that were previously blocked by regulatory ambiguity.
While cryptocurrency has emerged as a major grassroots alternative for expensive cross-border remittances in Sub-Saharan Africa, these parallel structures have historically limited the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s line of sight regarding foreign currency movements.
Bringing platforms onshore allows the State to stabilise data collection without cutting off vital capital pipelines for families, while simultaneously providing the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority with the data infrastructure required to strictly enforce capital gains liabilities on crypto holdings and a digital services withholding tax.
The new law intersects with the traditional banking sector by requiring all registered VASPs to maintain a physical business presence and a domestic banking relationship within Zimbabwe.
As a result, commercial banks must rapidly develop specialised onboarding policies to assess crypto firms as a distinct risk category.
Bankers are also bracing for an increase in suspicious transaction reports (STRs) as these virtual asset businesses integrate into the broader formal financial infrastructure.
On a macroeconomic scale, Mr Chibaya said the SI signals a deliberate and historic pivot from past regulatory uncertainty towards a structured, internationally aligned financial ecosystem.
By directly incorporating the global Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards, Zimbabwe is matching the regulatory benchmarks set by the European Union and regional peers such as South Africa and Kenya.
Ultimately, the transparency is expected to significantly boost international investor confidence, safeguard vital correspondent banking relationships and elevate Zimbabwe’s standing in global financial evaluations.
