Zimbabwe will require cryptocurrency businesses to register and pay annual fees, marking the country’s first dedicated attempt to bring the sector under formal oversight.

Businesses involved in buying, selling, transferring, or safeguarding virtual assets must register each year with the Financial Intelligence Unit, an anti money laundering body housed within the central bank.

Registration will cost $500 per year, and operating without approval is now an offence under regulations issued by Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube.

The rules mark a shift for a crypto market that has largely operated underground for years. Zimbabwe banned financial institutions from trading cryptocurrency in 2018, pushing activity toward peer to peer platforms, informal brokers, and social media channels.

Crypto adoption in Zimbabwe has been shaped by the country’s long history of monetary instability. Hyperinflation in the late 2000s wiped out savings and pensions, while repeated currency changes weakened trust in the banking system.

That history helped drive demand for Bitcoin and other digital assets as alternative stores of value and ways to transfer money outside the formal financial system.

Remittances have also played a role. Zimbabweans abroad send money home through channels that can be costly, with banks often among the most expensive options, according to World Bank remittance data cited by Reuters.

Zimbabwe’s move follows a wider regulatory push across Africa. South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Mauritius have all taken steps to regulate digital assets as crypto use on the continent grows.

Sub Saharan Africa received more than $205 billion in onchain value between July 2024 and June 2025, up 52% from the previous year, according to Chainalysis data cited by Reuters.

For regulators, the goal is to bring oversight to a market tied to money laundering concerns, fraud risks, and consumer protection gaps. For traders, the new framework could offer a path out of the informal market.

The shift does not make Zimbabwe a crypto free for all. It brings crypto businesses under annual registration and AML supervision. But it also signals that the government is moving away from a purely restrictive stance and toward a framework that recognizes the sector’s role in payments, savings, and cross border transfers.