Overview
- The government issued the rules on Friday, June 12, 2026, requiring businesses that buy, sell, transfer or safeguard virtual assets to register each year with the Financial Intelligence Unit.
- Registration carries a US$500 annual fee and operating without registration is now an offence under the regulations issued by Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube.
- The Financial Intelligence Unit sits inside the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, which signals a focus on anti‑money‑laundering, fraud prevention and transaction monitoring.
- Cryptocurrency use in Zimbabwe grew after a 2018 ban on banks trading crypto pushed activity onto peer‑to‑peer platforms and social media, while past hyperinflation and high remittance costs drove people toward digital assets.
- The move follows wider steps by other African countries to regulate crypto and responds to rapid on‑chain growth in the region, which recorded more than US$205 billion in transactions between July 2024 and June 2025.