Zimbabwe has rolled out its first dedicated rules for cryptocurrency, which require firms that deal in crypto assets to register with the central bank's financial intelligence arm or face potential prosecution, Reuters reported Friday.

Under regulations signed by Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube, companies that buy, sell, transfer or safeguard crypto assets must register annually with the Financial Intelligence Unit, the anti-money laundering body housed inside the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. Initial registration costs $500, with renewal costing $400.

Zimbabwe first barred banks and other financial institutions from handling crypto in 2018, which pushed trading onto peer-to-peer platforms and social media. The new rules appear to leave that prohibition in place, instead building a registration channel around the informal market the ban spawned.

Crypto demand in Zimbabwe has its roots in the country's monetary history. Hyperinflation in the late 2000s wiped out savings and pensions, and repeated currency changes drained trust in the banking system, leaving many Zimbabweans to hold Bitcoin and other tokens as a store of value and a way to move money outside formal channels, per Reuters. Remittances have deepened that reliance, with banks the costliest way to send money home for those in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to World Bank data.

The new rules place Zimbabwe among other African peers that already license crypto. South Africa supervises providers through its Financial Sector Conduct Authority, the continent's first such regime. Nigeria runs oversight through its Securities and Exchange Commission, which licensed local exchange Quidax in 2024. Kenya's Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, in force since November, splits supervision between the central bank and the Capital Markets Authority, with draft operating rules that went out for public comment earlier this year.

Zimbabwe's $500 fee is low next to those markets. Nigeria, by contrast, has required prospective providers to hold ₦500 million in a local bank account to qualify for a license, a sum worth about $367,000. Zimbabwe's modest bar appears aimed at pulling informal traders into the formal system rather than keeping them out.

Crypto use across the region has kept growing in recent years. Sub-Saharan Africa took in more than $205 billion in on-chain value between July 2024 and June 2025, up 52% year-over-year, according to Chainalysis' 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index, which The Block covered in September.

Harare crypto trader Jeffrey Mutambiranwa welcomed the change, telling Reuters it was "a welcome development" that lets traders operate openly instead of underground.