Law n° 023/2026 of 25/05/2026 regulating Virtual Asset Business (Rwanda)

Rwanda's Law regulating virtual asset business, published in the Official Gazette on 28 May 2026, is the country's first dedicated statute for the regulation of virtual assets and virtual asset service providers (VASPs), bringing crypto-asset activity within a formal legal framework. The Law responds to the global growth of crypto-assets, the associated money-laundering, terrorism-financing, consumer-protection and financial-stability risks, and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards on virtual assets. It adopts a co-regulatory model: the Capital Market Authority (CMA) is the lead regulator for virtual asset activities, working alongside the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) on matters relating to financial stability, payment systems and systemic risk. The Law sets broad regulatory principles while leaving much of the operational detail, licensing procedures, capital and liquidity requirements, reporting obligations, supervisory mechanisms and enforcement procedures, to be developed later by the CMA and BNR through subsidiary regulations. It requires that only incorporated legal entities (not individuals) may provide virtual asset services, and it establishes a regulatory sandbox jointly managed by the CMA and BNR in which firms can test new virtual-asset products under supervision and, on successful completion, apply for full licences. Although implementing regulations remain pending, the Law's criminal penalties are already enforceable: operating a virtual asset business without authorisation carries fines of between RWF 30 million and RWF 50 million and imprisonment of up to five years. As the statutory foundation for Rwanda's digital-asset regime, the Law places crypto-asset businesses within the financial regulators' perimeter and is a significant addition to the country's fintech regulation.

1. 1Rwanda's first statute regulating virtual assets and VASPs; gazetted 28 May 2026
2. 2Co-regulatory model: Capital Market Authority lead, with the National Bank of Rwanda on stability, payments and systemic risk
3. 3Only incorporated legal entities may provide virtual asset services (individuals barred)
4. 4Detailed licensing, capital, liquidity, reporting and supervisory rules to be set later by CMA/BNR regulations
5. 5Joint CMA/BNR regulatory sandbox with a pathway to full licensing
6. 6Criminal penalties already enforceable: unlicensed operation punishable by RWF 30m - 50m fines and up to 5 years' imprisonment