CRYPTOCURRENCY REGULATIONS | FULL REGISTER (plain text for machine readers) Reviewed: September 28, 2026. Canonical: https://cryptoregulations.net/. License: CC BY 4.0 with attribution to https://cryptoregulations.net. Grades: Comprehensive = dedicated licensing framework in force; Partial = some activities regulated, gaps remain; In transition = enacted/drafted, not fully in force; Restrictive = significant activity prohibited or narrowly channelled; Prohibited = core activity banned; No dedicated regime = general law only. ============================================================================== ARGENTINA (AR) | Comprehensive | Americas URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/argentina | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Comisión Nacional de Valores (CNV); UIF (AML); BCRA (payments restrictions) Signal: From registry to rulebook in eighteen months. Argentina built its regime at speed under IMF and FATF pressure. A March 2024 law created the mandatory registry of virtual asset service providers under the CNV, and CNV General Resolution 1058 of March 2025 turned registration into regulation: PSAVs must meet capital requirements scaled to activity, segregate customer assets, maintain local governance and cybersecurity standards, and comply with reporting obligations, with compliance deadlines phased through 2025 and unregistered platforms subject to blocking. Securities-token offerings and a tokenization sandbox for real-world assets run alongside under CNV oversight. Context is everything here: Argentines hold stablecoins at scale as inflation shelter, and policy has oscillated between the libertarian government's sympathy for crypto and the institutional cleanup demanded by the LIBRA memecoin scandal that touched the presidency in 2025. The registry-plus-rulebook structure has held through the turbulence. * PSAV registry and CNV regulatory framework [Law 27,739 (2024); CNV General Resolution 1058/2025] | In force Mandatory registration of virtual asset service providers with the CNV, followed by a full framework: minimum net worth by activity, segregation and custody standards, local establishment for firms serving Argentines, cybersecurity, disclosure, and AML alignment, with phased compliance deadlines and blocking of non-registrants. Penalties: Unregistered operation is barred, with platform blocking and administrative sanctions; AML violations run through the UIF. Source: CNV Argentina ============================================================================== AUSTRALIA (AU) | In transition | Asia-Pacific URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/australia | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: ASIC; AUSTRAC; Treasury; RBA (payments) Signal: Platform licensing enacted, switching on in April 2027. Australia is legislating its way out of a gap. For years the only crypto-specific obligations were AUSTRAC registration for digital currency exchanges (since 2018) and ASIC's position, set out in Information Sheet 225 and litigated in a string of cases, that many crypto products are financial products requiring an Australian Financial Services Licence. The Treasury's March 2025 statement committed to a platform-based model, and Parliament has since legislated it. The Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026 received Royal Assent on April 8, 2026 and commences April 9, 2027, creating two new financial products, the digital asset platform and the tokenised custody platform, and requiring operators holding client assets above thresholds to obtain an AFSL and meet custody, disclosure, and conduct standards, with a transition window for existing operators. Payment stablecoins are being handled separately through the government's payments licensing reforms. Until commencement, courts keep drawing the perimeter: ASIC has won and lost cases on yield products and token schemes, and its updated INFO 225 guidance maps existing law onto exchange tokens, stablecoins, and staking. The AML/CTF reforms passed in 2024 took effect for the sector on March 31, 2026, replacing 'digital currency' with 'virtual asset' and extending coverage to exchanges between virtual assets, transfers, safekeeping, and issuance services. * Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026 [Act No. 38, 2026; Royal Assent April 8, 2026; commences April 9, 2027] | Enacted, not yet in force Creates 'digital asset platform' and 'tokenised custody platform' as financial products under the Corporations Act: AFSL licensing for operators holding client crypto above thresholds, minimum custody and settlement standards, and disclosure and conduct obligations, with a transition window after commencement for existing operators to apply. Penalties: From commencement and the end of transition, operating an unlicensed platform breaches the Corporations Act's licensing provisions, with civil and criminal penalties. Source: Federal Register of Legislation * AUSTRAC digital currency exchange registration [AML/CTF Act 2006, Part 6A (2017 amendments)] | In force Providers of virtual asset services must enrol and register with AUSTRAC, run AML/CTF programs, and report suspicious matters and threshold transactions. Reforms in force since March 31, 2026 replaced 'digital currency' with 'virtual asset' and extended coverage beyond fiat conversion to exchanges between virtual assets, transfers, safekeeping, and issuance services. Penalties: Civil penalties and criminal liability for unregistered exchange; AUSTRAC has cancelled registrations and pursued remediation. Source: AUSTRAC * ASIC Information Sheet 225 and enforcement practice [INFO 225, updated 2024–2025] | Guidance / regulatory ASIC's map of when tokens, staking, yield products, and platforms constitute financial products under existing law, refined by Federal Court decisions in cases against yield and token-scheme providers. Penalties: Unlicensed financial services carry civil and criminal penalties under the Corporations Act. Source: ASIC crypto assets ============================================================================== BRAZIL (BR) | Comprehensive | Americas URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/brazil | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Banco Central do Brasil; CVM (securities tokens); Receita Federal (tax) Signal: The framework law found its teeth in February 2026. Brazil legislated first and regulated later. Law 14,478 of 2022, the Legal Framework for Virtual Assets, defined virtual assets and service providers, created a specific crime of fraud involving virtual assets, and left the operating rules to the designated regulator, which a 2023 decree confirmed as the Banco Central do Brasil, with the CVM keeping jurisdiction over tokens that are securities. The operating rules arrived in November 2025 as a package of BCB resolutions and entered into force on February 2, 2026: virtual asset service providers must obtain central bank authorization under fit-and-proper, capital, governance, and segregation requirements, with transition windows for incumbents, and stablecoin and crypto transactions linked to foreign currency are integrated into the foreign-exchange regulatory perimeter, a globally distinctive move reflecting how dollar-stablecoin flows dominate Brazilian volume. Brazil is Latin America's largest crypto market, with deep stablecoin usage, a bank-integrated exchange sector, and a Drex central bank infrastructure project that dropped its blockchain pilot in late 2025. Tax policy has churned without changing the core rule. A 2025 provisional measure that would have replaced the R$35,000 monthly exemption with a flat 17.5% tax lapsed in October 2025 after the Chamber of Deputies pulled it, so the exemption stands, and since July 1, 2026 Receita Federal's DeCripto rules require monthly reporting by crypto service providers. The central bank tightened the regime again on September 23, 2026 with two resolutions published the next day. Resolution BCB 588 makes reporting to the financial intelligence unit, Coaf, mandatory for virtual asset transfers to or from self-custody wallets worth US$10,000 or more, from October 1, 2026. Resolution BCB 589 amends the VASP framework: authorized institutions may not deal with unauthorized virtual asset providers from November 6, 2026, and from January 1, 2027 providers must report client balances, custody holdings in Brazil and abroad, proof of reserves, and assets committed to staking. * Legal Framework for Virtual Assets [Law No. 14,478/2022, effective June 2023; Decree 11,563/2023] | In force Defines virtual assets and VASPs, sets principles of governance, segregation, and consumer protection, criminalizes fraud with virtual assets, and delegates authorization and supervision of non-securities crypto activity to the Banco Central do Brasil. Penalties: Fraud involving virtual assets carries imprisonment of four to eight years plus fines; unauthorized operation draws financial-system sanctions. Source: Planalto, Lei 14.478/2022 * BCB authorization regime for VASPs [BCB resolutions of November 2025, in force February 2, 2026; Resolutions BCB 588 and 589 of September 23, 2026] | In force Requires central bank authorization for virtual asset service providers, sets capital, governance, custody, and segregation standards, integrates stablecoin and FX-linked crypto transactions into the foreign-exchange framework, and provides transition periods for firms already operating. Resolution 589 (September 2026) bars authorized institutions from dealing with unauthorized providers from November 6, 2026 and expands supervisory reporting from January 1, 2027; Resolution 588 requires Coaf reports on self-custody transfers of US$10,000 or more from October 1, 2026. Penalties: Operating without authorization after transition subjects firms to BCB administrative sanctions and closure. Source: Banco Central do Brasil ============================================================================== CANADA (CA) | Partial | Americas URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/canada | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: CSA members (OSC, AMF, BCSC and counterparts); FINTRAC; OSFI; Department of Finance; Bank of Canada (stablecoin issuers, once in force) Signal: Securities law stretched over crypto, and a federal stablecoin statute waiting to start. Canada regulates crypto trading platforms through securities law applied by the provincial regulators acting jointly as the CSA. Platforms holding client crypto are treated as trading in securities or derivatives (the contractual right against the platform is the instrument), so they must register, most as restricted dealers under tailored conditions, and since the 2023 pre-registration undertaking process, every platform serving Canadians has had to commit to custody, segregation, and leverage restrictions or exit; several global exchanges chose to leave. CSA terms also restrict trading of value-referenced crypto assets, permitting major stablecoins only under undertakings on reserves and disclosure, and ban margin for retail clients. Canada approved the world's first bitcoin ETFs in 2021, so listed exposure runs through ordinary securities channels. The federal piece is now law but not yet running. The Stablecoin Act, enacted inside the Budget 2025 Implementation Act (Bill C-15, Royal Assent March 26, 2026), will have the Bank of Canada supervise fiat-backed stablecoin issuers under reserve, redemption-at-par, and no-interest rules; it comes into force by order in council, which the Department of Finance expects in 2027 once supporting regulations are published. Banking-side guidance from OSFI sets conservative capital treatment for crypto exposures, and FINTRAC has registered and audited crypto MSBs since 2020, with significant penalties against non-compliant platforms. * CSA platform registration and PRU regime [CSA Staff Notices 21-327, 21-329, 21-332; 2023 pre-registration undertakings] | In force Crypto trading platforms serving Canadians must register with securities regulators, typically as restricted dealers, under conditions covering custody with qualified custodians, segregation, no retail margin, and listing controls; value-referenced crypto assets trade only under CSA-accepted undertakings. Penalties: Operating unregistered breaches provincial securities acts: administrative penalties, bans, and prosecution. Source: Canadian Securities Administrators * MSB registration for virtual currency dealers [PCMLTFA amendments, in force June 2020] | In force Dealing in virtual currency is a money services business activity: FINTRAC registration, KYC, travel rule, large transaction reporting, and record-keeping, enforced with administrative monetary penalties. Penalties: Administrative monetary penalties (FINTRAC has levied multi-million-dollar penalties on crypto platforms) and criminal exposure for unregistered MSBs. Source: FINTRAC * Stablecoin Act [Enacted in S.C. 2026, c. 3 (Bill C-15), Royal Assent March 26, 2026; in force by order in council] | Enacted, not yet in force Federal framework for fiat-backed stablecoin issuers, administered by the Bank of Canada: reserves of high-quality liquid assets, redemption at par, no interest or yield to holders, governance and risk-management requirements, and a national-security review. It fills the issuer-side gap the CSA's market-side undertakings cannot reach; the Department of Finance expects it in force in 2027. Penalties: Once in force, administrative monetary penalties and court enforcement for unregistered issuance and breaches. Source: Department of Finance Canada: stablecoin framework ============================================================================== CHILE (CL) | Comprehensive | Americas URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/chile | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Comisión para el Mercado Financiero (CMF); Banco Central de Chile Signal: The Fintech Law folded crypto into financial regulation. Chile's Fintech Law of 2023 brought crypto service providers into the financial regulatory perimeter as a matter of ordinary course: platforms offering exchange, custody, or intermediation of crypto assets register with and are supervised by the CMF, with capital, governance, and disclosure requirements phased in through implementing regulations across 2024 and 2025. The law's open-finance framework and its technology-neutral definition of financial instruments mean tokenized securities fall naturally under existing rules, and the central bank has announced it will consult on a framework setting conditions for stablecoin issuance in Chile. Chile's approach is the region's quietest, with no dedicated crypto statute and no bans, and its enforcement is getting sharper: in June 2026 the CMF rejected seven Fintech Law applications and ordered the rejected firms to stop taking new business. * Fintech Law [Law No. 21,521 (2023) and CMF implementing regulations] | In force Requires registration and CMF supervision of crypto asset service providers alongside other fintech services, with proportionate capital, governance, custody, and information obligations phased through secondary regulation. Penalties: Providing regulated fintech services without registration draws CMF sanctions under the financial-market sanctioning regime. Source: CMF Chile ============================================================================== CHINA (CN) | Prohibited | Asia-Pacific URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/china | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: People's Bank of China; CAC; NDRC; public security organs Signal: A comprehensive ban beside the world's largest CBDC pilot. China maintains the broadest crypto prohibition of any major economy. The September 2021 notice issued by the People's Bank of China with nine other agencies declared all crypto-related business activity, including exchange, order matching, token issuance, and derivatives, to be illegal financial activity, and extended the ban to overseas exchanges serving mainland residents. In February 2026 eight agencies led by the PBOC replaced that notice with a broader one, Yinfa [2026] No. 42, which keeps the ban and extends it: no domestic or foreign entity may issue a yuan-pegged stablecoin offshore without approval, offshore tokenization of onshore assets requires approval or filing, and internet platforms may not host or promote crypto or tokenization services. A parallel NDRC action banned mining, which had hosted a majority of global hash rate. Enforcement runs through payment blocking, criminal prosecution for illegal fundraising and illegal business operations, and periodic sweeps of over-the-counter desks. Chinese civil courts have repeatedly recognized that crypto held by individuals has property attributes, so personal holding is not itself criminal, and disputes over stolen or misappropriated coins are justiciable. And the state runs the world's largest central bank digital currency program, the e-CNY, alongside continued interest in blockchain infrastructure. The 2026 notice answered recurring reports that mainland institutions might issue offshore yuan stablecoins through Hong Kong: any such issuance now needs explicit approval. * Notice on Further Preventing and Dealing with Risks of Virtual Currency Trading and Speculation [PBOC and nine agencies, September 2021] | Amended / superseded Declared virtual-currency business activity illegal financial activity, barred financial institutions and payment companies from servicing it, extended jurisdiction to offshore exchanges serving mainland users, and directed criminal referral of violators. Repealed and replaced on February 6, 2026 by Yinfa [2026] No. 42. Penalties: Administrative shutdown and criminal prosecution for illegal fundraising, illegal business operations, and related offences. Source: People's Bank of China * Notice on Further Preventing and Disposing of Risks Related to Virtual Currencies [Yinfa [2026] No. 42; PBOC and seven agencies, effective February 6, 2026] | In force Replaces the 2021 notice and restates that virtual-currency business activity is illegal financial activity, then extends the perimeter: offshore issuance of yuan-pegged stablecoins by any domestic or foreign entity requires approval, offshore tokenization of onshore assets requires approval or filing under CSRC guidelines issued the same day, internet platforms may not provide venues, promotion, or paid traffic for crypto or tokenization businesses, and existing mining must cease. Penalties: Administrative shutdown and criminal prosecution for illegal fundraising, illegal business operations, and related offences. Source: Sina Finance, full text of Yinfa [2026] No. 42 * Mining prohibition and industrial policy exclusion [NDRC notice, September 2021; catalogue of eliminated industries] | In force Bans new virtual-currency mining projects, orders existing ones wound down, and classifies mining as an eliminated industry, with electricity-pricing penalties for holdouts. Penalties: Power cutoffs, punitive tariffs, and administrative sanction. Source: National Development and Reform Commission ============================================================================== COLOMBIA (CO) | No dedicated regime | Americas URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/colombia | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Superintendencia Financiera (perimeter statements); UIAF (AML); DIAN (tax) Signal: High adoption, repeated bills, no law. Colombia remains the largest Latin American market without a crypto framework. Successive bills to regulate exchanges have died in Congress since 2021, the supervised sandbox pilot that let banks work with exchanges concluded without producing permanent rules, and the financial superintendency's position stands: crypto is neither currency nor security, regulated institutions face restrictions on direct exposure, and platforms operate outside the perimeter. What does apply is AML and tax. Exchanges report to the UIAF financial intelligence unit, and DIAN Resolution 000240 of December 2025 adopted the OECD's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, so covered providers collect user and transaction data from tax year 2026 and file their first reports in May 2027. Peer-to-peer volumes, stablecoin savings, and Venezuelan-border flows keep adoption among the region's highest, which is the standing argument, so far unsuccessful, for the framework bills that keep returning to Congress. * AML reporting for virtual asset operations [UIAF resolutions on virtual asset reporting] | In force Exchanges and virtual asset businesses serving Colombia report transactions and suspicious operations to the UIAF; no licensing or prudential regime attaches. Penalties: Administrative sanctions for reporting failures; laundering offences under the criminal code. Source: UIAF Colombia ============================================================================== EGYPT (EG) | Prohibited | Africa URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/egypt | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Central Bank of Egypt; Financial Regulatory Authority Signal: A statutory ban with a license clause no one has used. Egypt's Central Bank Law of 2020 contains one of the cleanest statutory prohibitions in the field: Article 206 bars issuing, trading, promoting, or operating platforms for cryptocurrencies without a license from the Central Bank of Egypt's board, and no such license has been granted. The prohibition sits atop a 2018 Dar al-Ifta fatwa declaring crypto trading impermissible and periodic CBE warnings, and it carries criminal penalties of imprisonment and substantial fines. Enforcement actions against traders and promoters recur, though peer-to-peer activity persists at meaningful scale amid currency pressure. The carve-out matters mostly as an option: the licensing clause gives the CBE a lawful path to authorize activity, including a potential future CBDC-adjacent or tokenized framework, without new legislation. As of this review it remains unexercised. * Central Bank and Banking System Law, Article 206 [Law No. 194 of 2020] | In force Prohibits issuing, trading, or promoting cryptocurrencies or operating related platforms without a CBE board license; none has been issued. Violations carry criminal fines and imprisonment. Penalties: Imprisonment and fines under the banking law's penalty provisions. Source: Central Bank of Egypt ============================================================================== EL SALVADOR (SV) | Comprehensive | Americas URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/el-salvador | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Comisión Nacional de Activos Digitales (CNAD); Banco Central de Reserva Signal: Legal tender walked back, the issuance framework kept. El Salvador's 2021 Bitcoin Law made it the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender; the January 2025 amendments, enacted to satisfy the IMF's $1.4 billion program, walked the experiment back to voluntary status. Private acceptance is now optional, taxes are paid in dollars, and public-sector participation in bitcoin activity was confined, though the government's Bitcoin Office has continued adding to the national bitcoin holdings, a running point in IMF reviews. In September 2026 IMF staff reached agreement on the program's next reviews and said the bitcoin added since the first review came from documented private donations rather than public funds. The Chivo wallet's public role has been scaled back. What remains is a full digital asset framework built for issuance: the 2023 Digital Assets Issuance Law created the National Commission of Digital Assets (CNAD), licensing digital asset service providers and registering public offerings, with tax exemptions designed to attract issuers, and a companion volcano-bond architecture that has produced tokenized instruments. El Salvador today is less a legal-tender story than a small, permissive issuance jurisdiction with a sovereign bitcoin position. * Bitcoin Law, as amended [Legislative Decree 57 (2021); amendments of January 29, 2025] | In force Originally mandated bitcoin acceptance as legal tender; the 2025 amendments make acceptance voluntary, require tax payment in US dollars, and limit public-sector bitcoin activity, aligning the law with El Salvador's IMF program. Penalties: No acceptance obligation remains; general commercial law applies. Source: Asamblea Legislativa de El Salvador * Digital Assets Issuance Law [2023] | In force Creates CNAD as regulator, licenses digital asset service providers, registers public digital asset offerings, and grants tax exemptions on digital asset issuance and transfers to attract issuers, including the sovereign tokenized-bond program. Penalties: Unlicensed provision of digital asset services draws CNAD sanctions. Source: CNAD / Government of El Salvador ============================================================================== EUROPEAN UNION (EU) | Comprehensive | Europe URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/european-union | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: ESMA and EBA (EU level); national competent authorities (AMF, BaFin, CBI, MFSA, AFM and counterparts); AMLA from 2028 Signal: MiCA is fully in force, and the grace period is over. The European Union operates the most complete crypto framework of any major economy. The Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation applies directly in all 27 member states: the stablecoin titles since June 30, 2024, and the full regulation, including the CASP licensing regime and the first cross-border crypto market abuse rules, since December 30, 2024. The last transitional door closed on July 1, 2026, when the Article 143(3) grandfathering window ended: firms that had operated under national regimes without obtaining a MiCA authorization must no longer serve EU clients. A MiCA license passports across the entire single market, which is why authorizations concentrated in a handful of member states, with France, Germany, Ireland, Malta, and the Netherlands issuing most of the early CASP licenses. The stablecoin titles have had the most visible market effect. E-money tokens may only be issued by credit institutions or e-money institutions meeting reserve, redemption, and disclosure requirements; asset-referenced tokens carry heavier authorization and volume-cap rules. Circle's USDC and EURC are authorized; Tether's USDT is not, and was delisted from EU-regulated venues across late 2024 and 2025. Alongside MiCA sit three companion regimes: the recast Transfer of Funds Regulation applies the travel rule to crypto transfers from the first euro, DORA imposes operational resilience obligations on CASPs and issuers, and DAC8 tax reporting began January 1, 2026, implementing the OECD's CARF standard ahead of first exchanges in 2027. A new EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) assumes direct supervision of the riskiest cross-border firms, including crypto firms, from 2028. What MiCA deliberately leaves out matters for what comes next: fully decentralized finance, non-fungible tokens issued as genuinely unique items, and lending and staking as standalone activities sit outside the perimeter. The Commission's review is under way: a targeted consultation on MiCA opened May 20 and closes September 30, 2026, and a December 2025 Commission proposal would move direct supervision of crypto-asset service providers to ESMA. The register treats EU member states through this single entry; Switzerland and the UK, outside the framework, carry their own pages. On September 24, 2026 the EBA published its priorities for that review: tighter rules for multi-issuer and third-country stablecoin schemes, clearer asset classification, coverage of crypto lending and of CASPs that route clients to DeFi protocols, a cost-benefit review of the bank-deposit reserve floors, and better reporting, noting that as of September 1, 2026 39 e-money tokens and no asset-referenced tokens had been authorized. * Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) [Regulation (EU) 2023/1114] | In force The comprehensive framework: white-paper disclosure for public offers, authorization and conduct rules for ten categories of crypto-asset services, reserve-backed and redeemable stablecoins (ARTs and EMTs) issuable only by authorized entities, market abuse prohibitions, and EU-wide passporting. Stablecoin titles applied June 30, 2024; the balance December 30, 2024; the Article 143(3) transitional period for pre-existing national-regime firms ended July 1, 2026. Penalties: National administrative fines under Article 111: maximums of at least €5 million for legal persons or a share of annual turnover, up to 12.5% for the most serious stablecoin infringements; unauthorized CASP activity is unlawful in every member state. Source: EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 * Transfer of Funds Regulation (recast): the EU travel rule [Regulation (EU) 2023/1113] | In force Applies FATF's travel rule to crypto: CASPs must attach verified originator and beneficiary information to crypto-asset transfers, with no de minimis threshold between CASPs, and apply verification measures to transfers involving self-hosted addresses above €1,000. Applicable since December 30, 2024. Penalties: Enforced by national AML supervisors with administrative fines; systematic failures can cost a CASP its authorization. Source: EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 * Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) [Regulation (EU) 2022/2554] | In force Applies since January 17, 2025 to financial entities including MiCA-authorized CASPs and stablecoin issuers: ICT risk management frameworks, incident classification and reporting, resilience testing, and oversight of critical third-party technology providers. Penalties: Administrative sanctions set nationally; critical third-party providers face EU-level oversight fees and penalties. Source: EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 * DAC8: crypto tax reporting directive [Council Directive (EU) 2023/2226] | In force Extends EU administrative cooperation to crypto. Reporting crypto-asset service providers must perform due diligence and report user and transaction information to tax authorities from January 1, 2026, with automatic exchange between member states from 2027, implementing the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework. Penalties: Penalties for non-reporting are set in national implementing law. Source: EUR-Lex, Directive (EU) 2023/2226 * AML package and the new EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority [Regulation (EU) 2024/1620 and the 2024 AML Regulation/Directive] | Partially in force The 2024 AML package creates a single EU rulebook applying fully from 2027 and establishes AMLA in Frankfurt, which will directly supervise the highest-risk cross-border financial entities, expected to include major crypto-asset service providers, from 2028. Penalties: AMLA will hold direct sanctioning powers over selected obliged entities. Source: EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2024/1620 * DLT Pilot Regime [Regulation (EU) 2022/858] | In force A sandbox-style regime, applicable since March 2023, permitting authorized operators to run DLT-based trading and settlement infrastructure for tokenized securities under calibrated exemptions from MiFIR and CSDR. Uptake has been modest; the regime feeds the EU's wider tokenization review. Penalties: Operating outside permission limits triggers withdrawal and standard market-infrastructure sanctions. Source: EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2022/858 Q: Is USDT legal in the EU? A: Holding it is legal. Offering it to the public or admitting it to trading is the regulated act: because Tether has not obtained an EMT authorization under MiCA, EU-regulated venues delisted USDT for EEA clients, and MiCA-authorized CASPs cannot support it. USDC and EURC are authorized alternatives. Q: Does a MiCA license cover the whole EU? A: Yes. Authorization by one national competent authority passports across all 27 member states, which is MiCA's central advantage over the state-by-state licensing model in the US. Q: What did the July 1, 2026 deadline change? A: It ended the transitional period under Article 143(3). Firms that had been operating under pre-MiCA national regimes without securing a MiCA authorization must stop serving EU clients; continuing is unlawful activity subject to national sanction. ============================================================================== HONG KONG (HK) | Comprehensive | Asia-Pacific URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/hong-kong | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Securities and Futures Commission (SFC); Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) Signal: Licensed exchanges, licensed stablecoins, and a tokenization push. Hong Kong built its regime in deliberate layers. Virtual asset trading platforms have required a Securities and Futures Commission license since June 1, 2023 under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance, with retail access permitted subject to knowledge tests, suitability, and listing standards; operating without a license is a criminal offence. The Stablecoins Ordinance (Cap. 656) added the second layer on August 1, 2025: issuers of fiat-referenced stablecoins in Hong Kong, or of Hong Kong dollar-referenced stablecoins anywhere, must be licensed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, with full reserve backing and par redemption; existing issuers had to apply by October 31, 2025 or wind down, and the HKMA granted the first two issuer licences on April 10, 2026, to Anchorpoint Financial and HSBC. The 2025–2026 agenda has been expansion rather than construction. The government's second policy statement and the SFC's ASPIRe roadmap set out licensing for custody and dealing services, in November 2025 the SFC allowed licensed platforms to share order books with qualifying overseas affiliates to reach global liquidity, and in April 2026 the SFC opened a framework for secondary-market trading of tokenized SFC-authorized investment products. Hong Kong positions the whole stack, exchanges, stablecoins, custody, tokenized funds, as a single architecture for institutional digital asset business adjacent to a mainland where the activity is banned. On September 28, 2026 the SFC and the Accounting and Financial Reporting Council signed a memorandum of understanding that brings the financial reporting and audits of SFC-licensed virtual asset service providers into their cooperation, with information sharing, case referrals, and coordinated inspections. * AMLO virtual asset trading platform licensing [Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap. 615), as amended 2022; in force June 1, 2023] | In force Mandatory SFC licensing for centralized virtual asset exchanges operating in Hong Kong or marketing to Hong Kong investors: fit-and-proper management, 98% cold storage through associated entities, insurance, listing due diligence, and retail-access safeguards. Penalties: Unlicensed operation is a criminal offence punishable by fines and imprisonment of up to seven years. Source: SFC: virtual asset trading platform operators * Stablecoins Ordinance [Cap. 656, in force August 1, 2025] | In force HKMA licensing for issuers of fiat-referenced stablecoins issued in Hong Kong, and of HKD-referenced stablecoins wherever issued: full backing in high-quality liquid assets, redemption at par, segregation, disclosure, and fit-and-proper requirements. Only licensed stablecoins may be offered to Hong Kong retail investors. Application cutoff for pre-existing issuers was October 31, 2025; the first two licences, to Anchorpoint Financial and HSBC, were granted on April 10, 2026. Penalties: Conducting regulated stablecoin activity without a licence is a criminal offence carrying substantial fines and imprisonment. Source: Hong Kong e-Legislation, Cap. 656 * Tokenization and market-expansion measures [SFC circulars 2023–2026; ASPIRe roadmap (February 2025)] | Guidance / regulatory SFC circulars authorize tokenized securities and tokenized SFC-authorized funds; November 2025 measures permit shared order books with qualifying overseas affiliates and broaden products for professional investors; the April 2026 framework pilots secondary-market trading of tokenized authorized products. Consultations on dealing and custody licensing concluded in December 2025, and on advisory and asset-management services in May 2026; the government plans a single bill covering all four regimes. Penalties: Conditions attach to licences; breaches draw SFC disciplinary action. Source: Securities and Futures Commission ============================================================================== INDIA (IN) | Partial | Asia-Pacific URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/india | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: FIU-IND (AML); Income Tax Department; RBI (payments hostility, e-rupee); SEBI (undefined) Signal: Taxed and surveilled, but still no framework. India regulates crypto through taxation and anti-money-laundering law while declining, year after year, to legislate a framework. The Finance Act 2022 created the defining features: a flat 30% tax on virtual digital asset gains with no deduction beyond cost of acquisition and no loss offset, plus a 1% tax deducted at source on transfers above modest thresholds, which drove a large share of Indian volume to offshore platforms. The government answered that migration in March 2023 by extending the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to virtual asset businesses: exchanges and custodians must register with FIU-IND, and the unit has blocked and fined non-compliant offshore platforms, including a penalty against Binance in 2024, forcing major venues to register before re-entering. The Supreme Court's 2020 ruling striking down the RBI's banking ban remains the constitutional baseline: trading is legal. But the promised policy discussion paper has been repeatedly deferred, the RBI remains institutionally hostile while running the digital rupee pilot, and no licensing, custody, or market-conduct regime exists. India holds the G20 presidency legacy of the IMF-FSB synthesis roadmap it championed in 2023, without yet applying a domestic framework of its own. * Virtual digital asset taxation [Income-tax Act, 2025 (in force April 1, 2026), carrying forward the Finance Act 2022 VDA rules] | In force 30% tax on VDA transfer income, no loss set-off or carry-forward, and 1% TDS on transfers. Gifts of VDAs are taxable to recipients. The regime applies regardless of where the exchange is located, and it carried over unchanged when the Income-tax Act, 2025 replaced the 1961 Act on April 1, 2026. Penalties: Standard assessment, interest, and penalty provisions; TDS failures create withholding liability for platforms and buyers. Source: Income Tax Department of India * PMLA coverage of virtual asset businesses [Ministry of Finance notification, March 7, 2023] | In force Exchange, transfer, safekeeping, and related VDA activities are 'designated businesses' under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act: FIU-IND registration, KYC, record-keeping, and suspicious transaction reporting. FIU-IND has directed blocking of non-compliant offshore platforms and imposed monetary penalties. Penalties: Monetary penalties and access blocking; PMLA prosecution for laundering offences. Source: Financial Intelligence Unit – India ============================================================================== INDONESIA (ID) | Comprehensive | Asia-Pacific URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/indonesia | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK); Bank Indonesia (payments) Signal: Supervision moved from the commodities agency to the OJK. Indonesia completed a structural handover in January 2025: supervision of crypto assets moved from Bappebti, the commodity futures regulator that had overseen the market since 2019, to the Financial Services Authority (OJK) under the 2023 financial sector omnibus law, reframing crypto as a financial instrument rather than a traded commodity. OJK Regulation 27 of 2024 carries the framework: licensed exchanges, clearing, custodians, and traders operate within a national market structure, with the CFX national bourse launched in 2023 at its center. Crypto remains barred as a means of payment; the rupiah is the only legal tender. Indonesia is among the world's largest crypto markets by adoption, and tax policy has tracked the market's formalization: 2025 revisions raised the final income tax on domestic-platform sales while removing VAT from purchases, and imposed heavier rates on transactions through unlicensed foreign platforms. * Financial sector omnibus law and OJK handover [Law No. 4 of 2023 (P2SK), amended by Law No. 4 of 2026; OJK Regulation 27 of 2024] | In force Classifies crypto assets as digital financial assets under OJK supervision from January 2025, with licensing for exchanges, clearing institutions, custodians, and traders, listing standards, and consumer protection rules; Bappebti-era licenses transitioned to OJK oversight. The June 2026 amendment makes crypto firms supervised financial institutions, expressly covers staking, lending, and derivatives, and bars stablecoins from serving as a direct means of payment; OJK implementing rules are pending. Penalties: Operating outside the licensed structure breaches financial-sector law, with administrative sanctions and criminal exposure. Source: Otoritas Jasa Keuangan * Crypto transaction taxation [Ministry of Finance regulations, 2022, revised 2025] | In force Final income tax applies to crypto sales, with 2025 revisions adjusting rates for domestic licensed platforms, removing VAT on purchases, and penalizing use of unlicensed foreign venues with higher rates. Penalties: Standard tax administration penalties; platforms withhold at source. Source: Ministry of Finance of Indonesia ============================================================================== ISRAEL (IL) | Partial | Middle East URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/israel | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Authority; Israel Securities Authority; Bank of Israel; Tax Authority Signal: Licensed service providers, taxed gains, framework still assembling. Israel regulates crypto through adapted financial services law rather than a dedicated code. Crypto service providers, exchanges, custodians, brokers, need a license from the Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Authority under the 2016 financial services supervision law, a requirement enforced with growing seriousness after years of transitional grace, while the Israel Securities Authority claims jurisdiction over tokens with security characteristics and has advanced proposals to bring digital asset trading platforms under securities law. Banks, historically the chokepoint, operate under Bank of Israel guidance requiring risk-based rather than blanket refusal of crypto-sourced funds. Tax treatment is settled: crypto is an asset, gains face capital gains tax at 25% for individuals, and the tax authority runs voluntary disclosure tracks aimed at unreported crypto wealth. The Bank of Israel continues digital shekel design work, and wartime finance concerns since 2023 have added seizure of terror-linked wallets to the enforcement picture. * Financial services licensing for crypto providers [Supervision of Financial Services Law (2016), as applied] | In force Providing services in financial assets, defined to include virtual currencies, requires a CMISA license covering exchanges, brokers, and custodians, with fitness, capital, and AML obligations under the Prohibition on Money Laundering Order for financial asset service providers. Penalties: Unlicensed provision of financial asset services is a criminal offence. Source: Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Authority * Crypto taxation and reporting [Israel Tax Authority circulars (2018–)] | In force Crypto is an asset, not currency: 25% capital gains for individuals, business income rates for traders and miners, with disclosure tracks for unreported holdings and rules easing banks' acceptance of tax payments from crypto proceeds. Penalties: Standard tax penalties; unexplained crypto wealth draws assessment and criminal exposure. Source: Israel Tax Authority ============================================================================== JAPAN (JP) | Comprehensive | Asia-Pacific URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/japan | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Financial Services Agency (FSA); JVCEA (self-regulatory) Signal: The oldest licensing regime, now migrating to securities law. Japan has licensed crypto exchanges longer than any other major market: the Payment Services Act registration regime dates to 2017, tightened after the Coincheck hack with cold-storage and segregation requirements and backed by the JVCEA self-regulatory organization. The 2022 stablecoin amendments, in force since June 2023, restrict issuance of fiat-pegged stablecoins to banks, trust companies, and licensed money transfer agents, making Japan the first G7 country with a dedicated issuer regime; trust-based yen and foreign-currency stablecoins have since launched under it. Reclassification is now law. On July 15, 2026 the Diet passed amendments to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act and the Payment Services Act that move crypto assets from payment instruments to financial instruments, adding insider-trading prohibitions, periodic disclosure duties for issuers and exchanges, and maximum penalties for unregistered operation of ten years' imprisonment or ¥10 million. The changes are expected to take effect in 2027, and a separate tax framework cuts the top rate on crypto gains from as much as 55% to a flat 20% from 2028. Leverage caps, listing review, and travel-rule compliance already apply under the existing framework. The FSA convenes its new On-Chain Finance Forum for the AI Era on September 30, 2026, a closed working group on tokenization and on-chain payment infrastructure whose minutes will be published. * Payment Services Act: crypto-asset exchange registration [Act No. 59 of 2009, as amended 2016/2019] | In force Crypto-asset exchange service providers must register with the FSA: segregation of customer assets, majority cold storage, listing review, AML program, and annual audit. The 2019 amendments added custody-only services and moved crypto derivatives under the FIEA. Penalties: Unregistered exchange service is a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment and fines; the FSA issues business improvement and suspension orders. Source: Financial Services Agency * Stablecoin regime (electronic payment instruments) [PSA amendments, Act No. 61 of 2022, in force June 2023] | In force Fiat-referenced stablecoins are 'electronic payment instruments' issuable only by banks, trust companies, and registered money transfer agents, with redemption at par guaranteed; intermediaries handling them require their own registration. Penalties: Unlicensed issuance or intermediation carries criminal penalties under the PSA. Source: Financial Services Agency * FIEA and PSA amendments reclassifying crypto assets [Amendment act passed by the Diet July 15, 2026; expected in force 2027] | Enacted, not yet in force Classifies crypto assets as financial instruments under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, importing insider-trading and market-manipulation rules and periodic disclosure for issuers and exchanges, raises the maximum penalty for unregistered operation to ten years or ¥10 million, and removes a legal obstacle to spot crypto ETFs. A separate framework moves crypto gains to a flat 20% tax from 2028. Penalties: Once in force, insider trading and unregistered operation carry FIEA criminal penalties of up to ten years' imprisonment. Source: Financial Services Agency ============================================================================== KENYA (KE) | In transition | Africa URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/kenya | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Central Bank of Kenya; Capital Markets Authority Signal: A new VASP statute splits the field between central bank and markets authority. Kenya moved from taxing an unregulated market to licensing it. The Virtual Asset Service Providers Act 2025 creates the country's first framework, dividing supervision between the Central Bank of Kenya, which licenses stablecoin issuers, wallet providers, and payment-related services, and the Capital Markets Authority, which licenses exchanges, brokers, and tokenization platforms, with governance, local-presence, and AML requirements. The Act took effect on November 4, 2025, and implementing regulations gazetted on July 24, 2026 (Legal Notice No. 134) set capital requirements and open the licensing process. The Act followed FATF grey-listing pressure and years in which M-Pesa-adjacent crypto adoption ran far ahead of law. Tax came first and has been recalibrated: the 3% digital asset tax on gross transaction value introduced in 2023 was replaced in the Finance Act 2025 with a 10% excise on transaction fees charged by platforms, a shift the industry sought to keep exchanges onshore. * Virtual Asset Service Providers Act 2025 [Act No. 20 of 2025, in force November 4, 2025; VASP Regulations 2026 (Legal Notice No. 134)] | In force First Kenyan crypto framework: CBK licenses stablecoin issuance, wallets, and payment services; the CMA licenses exchanges, brokers, and investment-related services; both apply fit-and-proper, local presence, and AML/CFT requirements, with capital and licensing rules set by the regulations gazetted in July 2026. Penalties: Operating as an unlicensed VASP once licensing windows close is an offence carrying fines and imprisonment. Source: Kenya Law * Digital asset taxation [Finance Act 2023, revised Finance Act 2025] | In force The 3% digital asset tax on gross transfer value was replaced with a 10% excise duty on platform transaction fees, moving the burden from turnover to intermediation charges. Penalties: Standard tax collection and penalty provisions; platforms remit. Source: Kenya Revenue Authority ============================================================================== MALAYSIA (MY) | Comprehensive | Asia-Pacific URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/malaysia | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Securities Commission Malaysia; Bank Negara Malaysia Signal: Digital assets as securities, exchanges as recognized markets. Malaysia settled its classification question early: a 2019 prescription order deems digital currencies and digital tokens securities for purposes of the Capital Markets and Services Act, putting the Securities Commission in charge. Exchanges operate as Recognized Market Operators under SC guidelines, token offerings run through registered IEO platforms, and custodians require registration; Bank Negara Malaysia maintains that crypto is not legal tender and polices payment and AML angles. Enforcement against unlicensed international platforms has been steady. The 2025–2026 direction is measured liberalization. Revised SC guidelines for digital asset exchanges took effect May 20, 2026, speeding up product approvals while tightening client-asset, governance, and shareholding standards and bringing exchanges into the Financial Markets Ombudsman Service, and the central bank is running ringgit stablecoin and tokenized deposit pilots. * Capital Markets and Services (Prescription of Securities) (Digital Currency and Digital Token) Order 2019 [P.U.(A) 12/2019] | In force Prescribes qualifying digital currencies and tokens as securities, activating the CMSA's licensing, offering, and market-conduct machinery; SC guidelines govern exchanges (RMOs), IEO platforms, and digital asset custodians. Penalties: Operating an unlicensed market or making unauthorized offers carries criminal penalties under the CMSA, including imprisonment and substantial fines. Source: Securities Commission Malaysia ============================================================================== MEXICO (MX) | Partial | Americas URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/mexico | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: CNBV; Banco de México; SHCP/UIF (AML) Signal: A fintech law that fenced crypto out of the regulated system. Mexico's 2018 Fintech Law looked like early leadership and functioned as containment. It defined virtual assets and allowed regulated financial technology institutions and banks to operate with them, but only with Banco de México authorization, and the central bank's implementing circular confined permitted use to internal operations, effectively barring regulated institutions from offering crypto services to customers. As a result, Mexican exchanges and global platforms serve one of Latin America's largest remittance-driven crypto markets from outside the prudential perimeter, touching regulation mainly through the anti-money-laundering law's registry of vulnerable activities, which covers virtual asset operations and imposes reporting duties. Official posture has stayed cool, with the central bank emphasizing that crypto is not legal tender and successive administrations declining to modernize the framework, even as tokenized products and stablecoin remittance rails grow. Watch for CNBV and Banxico movement if regional stablecoin regimes pull activity toward regulated channels elsewhere. * Fintech Law and Banxico Circular 4/2019 [Ley Fintech (2018); Banco de México Circular 4/2019] | In force Defines virtual assets and conditions their use by banks and fintech institutions on central bank authorization; the circular restricts authorized use to internal operations, keeping customer-facing crypto services outside the regulated financial system. Penalties: Regulated institutions operating with virtual assets without authorization face CNBV and Banxico sanctions. Source: Banco de México * AML vulnerable-activities coverage [Federal AML Law (LFPIORPI), virtual asset provisions] | In force Exchange and custody of virtual assets are vulnerable activities: registration with the tax administration, KYC, and threshold reporting to the financial intelligence unit apply to platforms serving Mexican users. Penalties: Administrative fines and criminal liability for AML failures. Source: UIF Mexico ============================================================================== NEW ZEALAND (NZ) | Partial | Asia-Pacific URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/new-zealand | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Financial Markets Authority; Department of Internal Affairs (AML); Inland Revenue Signal: Fair-dealing law, AML coverage, and guardrails for crypto ATMs. New Zealand applies general law rather than a bespoke regime. Crypto businesses register on the Financial Service Providers Register and fall under the AML/CFT Act as reporting entities supervised by the Department of Internal Affairs; the Financial Markets Conduct Act's fair-dealing provisions cover misleading conduct in crypto offers, and tokens with security-like features trigger full FMC Act obligations. The Financial Markets Authority publishes guidance rather than running a licensing gateway, and a 2024–2025 parliamentary inquiry recommended a cautious, harms-based approach. The crypto ATM question has turned. The government announced a ban on cryptocurrency ATMs in July 2025, but it was never legislated, and on July 9, 2026 Cabinet decided against a blanket ban, opting for regulation-making powers in the AML/CFT (Omnibus) Amendment Bill that would allow caps on cash purchases of virtual assets and, if harm emerges, a prohibition on cash purchases of high-risk assets. Tax treatment follows Inland Revenue guidance: crypto is property, and gains from acquisition for disposal are taxable income. * Financial Markets Conduct Act application [FMC Act 2013; FMA guidance] | In force Fair-dealing prohibitions apply to all crypto offers to New Zealanders; tokens that are debt, equity, or managed-investment interests carry full disclosure and licensing obligations. Penalties: Civil pecuniary penalties and criminal liability for misleading conduct and unlicensed regulated offers. Source: Financial Markets Authority * AML/CFT coverage and crypto ATM restrictions [AML/CFT Act 2009; AML/CFT (Omnibus) Amendment Bill (2026)] | In force Virtual asset service providers are reporting entities under DIA supervision. The 2025 plan to ban crypto ATMs was replaced in July 2026 by proposed regulation-making powers to limit cash purchases of virtual assets, pending before Parliament at this review. Penalties: Civil and criminal penalties for AML failures; kiosk limits apply only once regulations are made under the amended Act. Source: New Zealand Ministry of Justice ============================================================================== NIGERIA (NG) | Partial | Africa URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/nigeria | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Securities and Exchange Commission Nigeria; Central Bank of Nigeria; EFCC Signal: From banking ban to securities statute, with enforcement whiplash. Nigeria has swung harder than any major market. The central bank's 2021 prohibition on banks servicing crypto ended in December 2023, replaced by guidelines allowing accounts for licensed VASPs. The Investments and Securities Act 2025, signed in March 2025, then did what no prior law had: it defines digital and virtual assets as securities and puts virtual asset service providers, exchanges, and digital asset offerings squarely under the Securities and Exchange Commission, which runs licensing through its incubation program while ordering unregistered platforms out of the market. Enforcement remains volatile. The state's 2024 confrontation with Binance, detentions, tax charges, and a multi-billion-dollar suit, signalled that access to Nigerian users without registration carries real risk, and the 2025 collapse of the CBEX ponzi scheme hardened the SEC's stance against unregistered platforms. With among the world's highest grassroots adoption and persistent naira pressure, the gap between the licensed perimeter and actual peer-to-peer practice is the defining feature. * Investments and Securities Act 2025 [Signed March 29, 2025] | In force Recognizes digital and virtual assets as securities, brings VASPs, digital asset operators, and exchanges under SEC jurisdiction, and criminalizes ponzi and unregistered investment schemes with substantial penalties; SEC licensing proceeds through its accelerated incubation program. Penalties: Unregistered virtual asset business and investment schemes carry fines and imprisonment under the Act. Source: SEC Nigeria * CBN guidelines on bank accounts for VASPs [CBN circular, December 2023] | In force Lifts the 2021 ban on banking crypto businesses: banks may open designated accounts for SEC-licensed VASPs under enhanced due diligence, while banks themselves remain barred from holding or trading crypto. Penalties: Banks face supervisory sanction for servicing unlicensed operators. Source: Central Bank of Nigeria ============================================================================== PHILIPPINES (PH) | Comprehensive | Asia-Pacific URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/philippines | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP); Securities and Exchange Commission Signal: Two regulators, one perimeter: BSP for VASPs, SEC for offerings. The Philippines splits the field between its central bank and securities regulator. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has licensed virtual asset service providers since 2021 under Circular 1108, covering exchange, transfer, and custody with capital, cybersecurity, and travel-rule requirements; a licensing moratorium imposed in 2022 kept the roster small. The Securities and Exchange Commission completed the other half in 2025 with rules for crypto-asset service providers: registration, disclosure, and marketing standards for firms offering crypto to Filipinos, aimed squarely at offshore platforms that had solicited the market without authorization, several of which were ordered blocked. Adoption remains among the world's highest, historically driven by remittances and play-to-earn gaming, which keeps consumer-protection enforcement, unregistered-solicitation actions, and scam takedowns at the center of both agencies' dockets. * BSP virtual asset service provider framework [BSP Circular No. 1108 (2021)] | In force Licenses VASPs performing exchange, transfer, and custody: minimum capital, AML program, travel rule, cybersecurity, and consumer redress requirements under central bank supervision. Penalties: Unlicensed VASP operation triggers administrative sanctions and criminal referral under banking and AML law. Source: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas * SEC crypto-asset service provider rules [SEC rules, 2025] | In force Registration and conduct rules for firms offering crypto-asset services or marketing to persons in the Philippines, including disclosure standards and advertising restrictions, with blocking orders available against non-compliant offshore platforms. Penalties: Unregistered solicitation draws cease-and-desist orders, fines, and platform blocking. Source: SEC Philippines ============================================================================== RUSSIA (RU) | In transition | Europe URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/russia | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Bank of Russia; Federal Tax Service (mining registry); Rosfinmonitoring Signal: Trading legalized through licensed intermediaries, payments still banned. Russia's regime is defined by what the state needs crypto for. The 2020 Digital Financial Assets law legalized holding and trading while banning crypto as a means of payment inside Russia, and the central bank kept retail access to global crypto markets constricted. Sanctions changed the calculus: 2024 legislation legalized and licensed industrial mining from November 2024, with registered miners, reporting to the tax service, and regional bans where grids are strained, and a companion law created an experimental legal regime permitting the use of crypto in cross-border settlements under Bank of Russia supervision, an explicit sanctions-evasion channel. Domestic liberalization arrived on September 1, 2026, when Federal Law No. 282-FZ, On Digital Currency and Digital Rights, took effect after passing the State Duma on July 21 and being signed on August 4. Russians may now buy and sell crypto through intermediaries regulated by the Bank of Russia; non-qualified investors must pass a test and are capped at RUB 300,000 a year per intermediary in approved liquid coins, while tested qualified investors face no cap. The domestic payments ban stays, crypto may settle foreign-trade contracts, operators have until July 1, 2027 to be licensed or registered, and officials continue to rule out legal-tender status. The digital ruble CBDC is being phased into wide use on a statutory timeline. The licensing machinery arrived on September 24, 2026, when the Bank of Russia's first implementing acts under the law were published: Directive 7429-U on the registers of digital currency exchangers, digital depositaries, and information-system operators, and Regulation 890-P on qualification requirements for their officers, both in force October 5, 2026, when register applications open. Exchangers need minimum capital of RUB 15 million and depositaries RUB 50 million to 250 million depending on activity, licensed banks, brokers, and existing operators get a simplified track, and unregistered exchangers may keep operating until July 1, 2027. * Digital Financial Assets law [Federal Law No. 259-FZ (2020), in force January 2021] | In force Defines digital financial assets and digital currency, permits holding and trading, prohibits accepting digital currency as payment for goods and services in Russia, and conditions judicial protection of holdings on tax declaration. Penalties: Administrative liability for payments violations; undeclared holdings lose judicial protection. Source: Bank of Russia * Federal Law No. 282-FZ On Digital Currency and Digital Rights [Signed August 4, 2026; in force September 1, 2026; Bank of Russia Directive 7429-U and Regulation 890-P in force October 5, 2026; licensing transition to July 1, 2027] | Partially in force Legalizes buying and selling digital currency through Bank of Russia-regulated intermediaries, with investor testing, an annual RUB 300,000 cap per intermediary for non-qualified investors limited to approved liquid coins, no cap for tested qualified investors, settlement of foreign-trade contracts in digital currency, and judicial protection for holders. The ban on domestic crypto payments remains, and some provisions apply from 2027. Penalties: From July 1, 2027, operating as a crypto intermediary without Bank of Russia licensing or registration is unlawful, and banks must refuse transfers involving unauthorized entities. Source: CoinDesk, July 2026 * Mining legalization and registration [Federal laws of August 2024, in force November 1, 2024] | In force Legalizes industrial mining by registered entities and entrepreneurs, sets reporting to the tax authority, permits sale of mined coins through the experimental regime, and allows the government to ban mining regionally, which it has done in energy-stressed regions. Penalties: Unregistered industrial mining and regional-ban violations draw administrative and tax liability. Source: Government of Russia * Experimental legal regime for cross-border crypto settlements [Federal law of 2024; Bank of Russia administration] | In force Permits authorized use of digital currency in foreign-trade settlements under Bank of Russia supervision, created to route around payment sanctions; scope and participants are controlled by the central bank. Penalties: Activity outside the regime remains subject to the domestic payments ban. Source: Bank of Russia ============================================================================== SAUDI ARABIA (SA) | Restrictive | Middle East URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/saudi-arabia | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Saudi Central Bank (SAMA); Capital Market Authority Signal: Official discouragement, sandbox experimentation, quiet retail adoption. Saudi Arabia has never enacted a crypto framework and maintains the warning posture set by its 2018 standing committee statement: crypto trading is outside the licensed financial system, banks may not facilitate it, and the public deals at its own risk. There is no criminal prohibition on individual holding, and retail participation through offshore platforms is substantial, but no exchange is licensed to operate domestically. Regulatory energy has gone instead into controlled experimentation: SAMA's regulatory sandbox and open-banking program, participation in the multi-CBDC Project mBridge, and Capital Market Authority pilots for tokenized debt and fund instruments through licensed fintechs. The practical consequence is a bifurcated market: institutional digital asset work proceeds through sandboxed, licensed channels focused on tokenization, while retail crypto remains an unregulated offshore activity that the state discourages without policing individual users. * Standing committee warning on virtual currencies [Joint statement of financial regulators, 2018 (maintained)] | Guidance / regulatory Declares virtual currency trading unauthorized within the Kingdom, bars licensed financial institutions from dealing in or facilitating crypto, and warns the public that participation is at their own risk. Penalties: Licensed institutions face supervisory action for facilitation; no criminal penalty attaches to individual holding. Source: Saudi Central Bank * SAMA sandbox and CMA tokenization pilots [Regulatory sandbox frameworks, 2019–] | Guidance / regulatory Fintech testing environments through which distributed-ledger, tokenized-securities, and payments experiments are licensed case by case, alongside participation in cross-border CBDC work. Penalties: Activity outside sandbox permission remains unauthorized. Source: Capital Market Authority ============================================================================== SINGAPORE (SG) | Comprehensive | Asia-Pacific URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/singapore | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Signal: Full licensing at home, and since 2025 a hard line on offshore-only firms. Singapore runs one of the most complete crypto frameworks in Asia through the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Digital payment token services, including exchange, transfer, and custody, have required a Payment Services Act license since 2020, with conduct rules that tightened steadily: retail customers cannot trade on leverage or with credit, incentives are banned, and customer assets must be held on trust with daily reconciliation. MAS finalized a stablecoin framework in August 2023 for single-currency stablecoins pegged to the Singapore dollar or G10 currencies, built on full reserve backing, five-day redemption at par, and issuer capital requirements, with the label 'MAS-regulated stablecoin' reserved for compliant issuers. The framework has operated as MAS policy; on September 1, 2026 MAS published draft Payment Services Act amendments that would give it statutory force through a stablecoin issuance licence, with comments due October 16, 2026 and no commencement date yet set. The decisive 2025 move closed the offshore loophole. From June 30, 2025, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 requires digital token service providers operating from Singapore but serving only overseas customers to be licensed, and MAS made clear it would grant such licenses only in extremely limited circumstances, forcing offshore-facing firms to relocate or shut. Singapore also became one of the first countries assessed under FATF's fifth-round evaluation of virtual asset supervision effectiveness. * Payment Services Act 2019 [No. 2 of 2019, in force January 2020] | In force Licenses digital payment token services: exchange, transfer, and custody. Amendments and MAS guidelines added consumer-access restrictions (no leverage or credit for retail, no incentives), trust-based safeguarding of customer assets, and travel-rule compliance. Penalties: Carrying on a licensable payment service without a licence is a criminal offence punishable by fines and imprisonment. Source: Singapore Statutes Online, PSA 2019 * Financial Services and Markets Act 2022: DTSP regime [No. 18 of 2022, Part 9 in force June 30, 2025] | In force Requires Singapore-based digital token service providers serving customers wholly outside Singapore to be licensed. MAS stated licences would be granted only in extremely limited circumstances, ending the practice of using Singapore as an unregulated offshore base. Penalties: Unlicensed provision after June 30, 2025 is a criminal offence. Source: Singapore Statutes Online, FSM Act 2022 * MAS stablecoin framework and draft legislation [MAS framework (August 2023); draft PSA amendments published for consultation September 1, 2026] | Guidance / regulatory Single-currency stablecoins pegged to SGD or G10 currencies: full backing in low-risk reserve assets, redemption at par within five business days, issuer capital and disclosure requirements, and a regulated-stablecoin label reserved for compliant issuers. The 2023 framework is MAS policy without statutory force. Draft Payment Services Act amendments published September 1, 2026 would create a stablecoin issuance licence, require reserves at least equal to par value, recognize foreign-issued stablecoins meeting equivalent standards, and add powers over systemic stablecoins; comments close October 16, 2026. Penalties: Misusing the regulated label or breaching conditions triggers MAS enforcement. Source: Gibson Dunn: Singapore publishes draft stablecoin legislation ============================================================================== SOUTH AFRICA (ZA) | Comprehensive | Africa URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/south-africa | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA); Financial Intelligence Centre; SARB Signal: Crypto declared a financial product; hundreds of firms licensed. South Africa regulated by declaration rather than legislation: in October 2022 the FSCA declared crypto assets a financial product under the existing FAIS Act, making advice and intermediary services in crypto, which in practice covers exchanges and brokers, licensable activity. Applications opened in 2023 and the FSCA has since licensed several hundred crypto asset service providers while publishing enforcement lists of firms operating without authorization. In parallel, crypto businesses became accountable institutions under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act in 2022, and the FIC's travel-rule directive took effect in 2025, completing the FATF-driven AML build that helped South Africa's grey-list exit case. Exchange control is where reform is now moving. In April 2026 the Treasury published draft Capital Flow Management Regulations to replace the 1961 Exchange Control Regulations, bringing crypto assets expressly within exchange control, and in August 2026 the Treasury and the Reserve Bank issued a draft Crypto Assets Manual for cross-border activity that would require separate Reserve Bank authorisation for crypto asset service providers, with comments due September 30, 2026. The Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group's roadmap continues to steer stablecoin and tokenization policy toward eventual bespoke legislation. * Declaration of crypto assets as a financial product [FSCA declaration under the FAIS Act, October 2022] | In force Brings advice and intermediary services in crypto assets under FAIS licensing: fit-and-proper standards, conduct rules, and FSCA supervision, with a licensing round that has authorized hundreds of CASPs and produced public warnings against unlicensed operators. Penalties: Rendering financial services without a licence is an offence under the FAIS Act, with fines, debarment, and enforcement action. Source: FSCA * FIC Act coverage and the travel rule [Schedule amendments 2022; FIC Directive on crypto transfers, effective 2025] | In force Crypto asset service providers are accountable institutions: registration with the FIC, customer due diligence, reporting, and, from 2025, travel-rule transmission of originator and beneficiary information. Penalties: Administrative sanctions and criminal liability for AML failures. Source: Financial Intelligence Centre ============================================================================== SOUTH KOREA (KR) | Partial | Asia-Pacific URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/south-korea | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Financial Services Commission (FSC); Financial Supervisory Service; Bank of Korea (stablecoin debate) Signal: Phase one protects users; phase two is stuck on stablecoins. South Korea regulates one of the world's most active retail crypto markets through a two-phase plan. Phase one, the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, has been in force since July 19, 2024: exchanges must keep at least 80% of customer coins in cold storage, carry insurance or reserves against hacks, segregate customer deposits with banks that pay interest on them, and face the harshest market abuse penalties in any crypto statute, up to life imprisonment where unfair-trading gains exceed ₩5 billion. Beneath it sit the 2021 Specific Financial Transactions Act registration regime, real-name bank account requirements, and ISMS security certification, which together consolidated trading onto a handful of licensed exchanges. Phase two, covering market structure, token issuance and listing, and won-denominated stablecoins, stalled through 2025 and into 2026 on a single dispute: the Bank of Korea insists stablecoin issuers be at least 51% owned by regulated banks, while ruling-party lawmakers back broader eligibility. The disagreement has pushed the framework's likely completion toward 2027. Meanwhile corporate trading accounts began phasing in during 2025, spot crypto ETFs remain barred pending legislation, and the deferred 20% tax on crypto gains is scheduled for 2027. * Virtual Asset User Protection Act [Act No. 19563 of 2023, in force July 19, 2024] | In force Custody standards (80% cold storage, insurance or reserve funds), segregation and interest on customer cash, exchange obligations to monitor abnormal trading, and criminal prohibitions on manipulation and use of undisclosed information. Penalties: Unfair trading: minimum one year's imprisonment or fines of 3–5× the gain; life imprisonment possible where gains exceed ₩5 billion. Source: Financial Services Commission * Specific Financial Transactions Act (VASP registration) [As amended 2020, in force March 2021] | In force Virtual asset service providers must register with the Financial Intelligence Unit, hold ISMS certification, and partner with banks for real-name deposit accounts; the requirements forced most smaller exchanges out of the won market. Penalties: Operating unregistered is a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment and fines. Source: Korea Financial Intelligence Unit * Phase-two framework and won-stablecoin legislation [Digital Asset Basic Act proposals, 2025–2026] | Pending Would establish issuance and listing rules, self-regulatory structure, and licensing for won-denominated stablecoin issuers. Deadlocked over the Bank of Korea's demand for 51% bank ownership of issuers; passage has slipped, with implementation now expected no earlier than 2027. Penalties: Not yet law. Source: Financial Services Commission ============================================================================== SWITZERLAND (CH) | Comprehensive | Europe URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/switzerland | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: FINMA; Federal Council/SIF (framework) Signal: The DLT Act model: integrate, don't quarantine. Switzerland chose integration over a standalone code, and did it before anyone else. The DLT Act, a package of amendments in force since 2021, wove digital assets into existing law: ledger-based securities with full legal effect under the Code of Obligations, a DLT trading facility license for venues combining trading and settlement, and segregation of crypto assets in bankruptcy. FINMA's 2018 token taxonomy (payment, utility, asset) still frames analysis, and its licensing practice has produced crypto-native banks holding full banking licenses alongside securities firms and the fintech-license tier for deposit-like business. The Zug crypto cluster operates under ordinary financial market law: AML affiliation is mandatory for financial intermediaries, FINMA's 2024 stablecoin guidance requires issuers to either hold a license or obtain bank default guarantees while warning about the risks of the guarantee model, and Switzerland approved the OECD's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework in 2025, though the Federal Council postponed it: no reporting duties apply in 2026, and activation can come on January 1, 2027 at the earliest, once Parliament approves partner states. A draft revision of the Financial Institutions Act, consulted on through February 2026, would add a payment-instrument institution licence able to issue stablecoins and a crypto institution licence for trading and custody. The result is a jurisdiction with no crypto act to point to and one of the most complete rulebooks in practice. * DLT Act (Federal Act on the Adaptation of Federal Law to Developments in DLT) [In force February/August 2021] | In force Amends ten federal statutes: creates uncertificated ledger-based securities, a DLT trading facility authorization under FMIA, and bankruptcy segregation of crypto-based assets held for customers. Penalties: Operating a trading facility or bank-like business without authorization breaches FINMA-supervised statutes, with enforcement and criminal referral. Source: Swiss Federal Council / Fedlex * FINMA stablecoin guidance [FINMA Guidance 06/2024] | Guidance / regulatory Stablecoin issuers generally accept deposits: they need a banking license or default guarantees from a bank for each holder, with FINMA flagging the guarantee model's risks to holders and to the guaranteeing banks, plus full AML obligations on issuers. Penalties: Unauthorized deposit-taking is subject to FINMA enforcement and criminal provisions of the Banking Act. Source: FINMA * Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework implementation [AEOI legislation approved 2025; application postponed, January 1, 2027 at the earliest] | Enacted, not yet in force Implements the OECD CARF standard for automatic exchange of crypto tax information. Parliament approved the framework in 2025, but the Federal Council postponed its application: no due-diligence or collection duties apply in 2026, and activation requires parliamentary approval of partner states. Penalties: Reporting failures carry administrative fines under AEOI law. Source: State Secretariat for International Finance ============================================================================== TAIWAN (TW) | In transition | Asia-Pacific URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/taiwan | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Signal: AML registration now, a licensing statute passed and awaiting its start date. Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission governs crypto today through anti-money-laundering law: amendments effective at the start of 2025 replaced the old compliance-declaration system with mandatory registration for virtual asset service providers, backed for the first time by criminal penalties for operating unregistered, and an industry association operates under FSC guidance. The permanent architecture is now legislated. The Legislative Yuan passed the Virtual Asset Service Act on June 30, 2026: the FSC will license providers, customer assets must be segregated, stablecoin issuers need approval from both the central bank and the FSC and must hold full reserves, and unlicensed operation carries up to seven years' imprisonment. The Executive Yuan will set the effective date, after which registered providers have 12 months to apply for licences and 21 months to obtain them. * AML registration regime for VASPs [Money Laundering Control Act amendments, effective January 2025] | In force Mandatory FSC registration for virtual asset service providers, replacing the prior declaration system, with criminal liability for unregistered operation and ongoing AML program obligations. Penalties: Unregistered operation is a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment and fines. Source: Financial Supervisory Commission * Virtual Asset Service Act [Passed by the Legislative Yuan June 30, 2026; effective date to be set by the Executive Yuan] | Enacted, not yet in force Replaces AML-only registration with FSC licensing, segregation and trust custody of customer assets, stablecoin issuance subject to central bank and FSC approval with full reserves, and market-conduct standards. Existing registered providers must apply within 12 months and be licensed within 21 months of the effective date. Penalties: Unlicensed operation: up to seven years' imprisonment and fines up to NT$100 million; fraud and manipulation: three to ten years. Source: Central News Agency ============================================================================== THAILAND (TH) | Comprehensive | Asia-Pacific URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/thailand | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Securities and Exchange Commission (Thailand); Bank of Thailand Signal: A 2018 code, tightened for fraud and sweetened for tax. Thailand has run a dedicated code since the Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses of 2018: exchanges, brokers, dealers, custodians, and ICO portals are licensed by the SEC, with listing rules, custody standards, and advertising controls layered on since. The Bank of Thailand separately bars using digital assets as a means of payment. Recent policy has moved in two directions at once. Against fraud, 2025 amendments effective in April targeted foreign platforms serving Thai users and money-mule accounts, giving regulators blocking powers and adding liability for facilitating scams, with major unlicensed platforms blocked. Toward growth, the cabinet approved a five-year exemption of capital gains tax on crypto sales made through licensed operators, running 2025 through 2029, the government issued its G-Token digital savings instrument, and a tourism sandbox lets visitors convert crypto to baht through licensed intermediaries. The combination, strict licensing plus tax advantage for staying inside it, is Thailand's explicit strategy for pulling volume onshore. * Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses B.E. 2561 [2018, as amended through 2025] | In force Licensing for digital asset exchanges, brokers, dealers, advisers, fund managers, and custodians; ICO offerings through approved portals; SEC supervision of listing, custody, and conduct. 2025 amendments add blocking powers over foreign platforms soliciting Thai users and liability for mule-account facilitation. Penalties: Unlicensed digital asset business is a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment and fines, with platform blocking available. Source: SEC Thailand * Capital gains exemption for licensed-platform sales [Cabinet resolution, June 2025 (2025–2029)] | In force Exempts personal capital gains on crypto sold through SEC-licensed operators for five years, pairing tax advantage with the licensing perimeter to repatriate trading volume. Penalties: Gains outside licensed channels remain taxable. Source: Royal Thai Government ============================================================================== TÜRKIYE (TR) | Comprehensive | Europe URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/turkiye | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Capital Markets Board (CMB/SPK); MASAK (AML); CBRT (payments ban) Signal: A licensing regime built fast, atop a payments ban. Türkiye moved from unregulated to licensed in under two years. Law No. 7518, published in July 2024, amended the Capital Markets Law to put crypto asset service providers, exchanges, custodians, and wallet providers, under Capital Markets Board licensing; secondary regulations in March 2025 set the operating rules, including substantial minimum capital for exchanges and far higher requirements for custodians, customer-asset segregation with most assets held at licensed custodians, listing procedures, and fit-and-proper standards. Platforms operating during the transition appear on the CMB's in-process list while applications are determined, and the Board blocks unauthorized foreign platforms. The 2021 central bank regulation prohibiting the use of crypto assets in payments remains fully in force, so the regime licenses trading and custody of an asset class that cannot lawfully be spent. AML rules under MASAK have tightened in step, with travel-rule obligations and 2025 measures against mule accounts and suspicious transfers, including transfer delays and enhanced identification. One of the world's highest-adoption markets, driven by lira depreciation, now trades inside a supervised perimeter. * Law No. 7518 amending the Capital Markets Law [Official Gazette, July 2, 2024; secondary regulations March 13, 2025] | In force Defines crypto assets and crypto asset service providers, requires CMB licensing for exchanges, custodians, and wallet providers, mandates segregation and custody of customer assets predominantly at licensed custodians, and sets minimum capital, governance, and listing standards through two implementing communiqués. Penalties: Operating without a licence is a criminal offence carrying multi-year imprisonment and judicial fines; the CMB blocks unauthorized platforms' access. Source: Capital Markets Board of Türkiye * Regulation on the disuse of crypto assets in payments [CBRT regulation, April 2021] | In force Prohibits using crypto assets directly or indirectly in payments and bars payment institutions from crypto-related fund flows; holding and trading remain lawful. Penalties: Administrative sanction under payments law. Source: Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye ============================================================================== UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (AE) | Comprehensive | Middle East URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/united-arab-emirates | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: VARA (Dubai); CMA (federal, formerly SCA); FSRA (ADGM); DFSA (DIFC); CBUAE (payment tokens) Signal: Four regulators, one strategy: license everything, attract everyone. The UAE runs the most layered pro-crypto architecture in the world. Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, created by Law No. 4 of 2022, licenses exchanges, brokers, custodians, and issuers under activity-specific rulebooks and has attracted most global platforms to Dubai licenses. Federally, the Capital Market Authority, which replaced the Securities and Commodities Authority on January 1, 2026 under Federal Decree-Laws No. 32 and No. 33 of 2025, licenses virtual asset service providers outside the financial free zones, and its jurisdiction reaches firms abroad that target UAE clients. The financial free zones each run their own mature regimes: ADGM's FSRA has regulated virtual asset activity since 2018, and the DIFC's DFSA operates a crypto token recognition and licensing regime. The stablecoin layer arrived in 2024: the central bank's Payment Token Services Regulation licenses issuance of dirham-backed payment tokens and restricts which tokens may be used for payments in the UAE, with the first licensed dirham stablecoins approved from late 2024. A new central bank law, Federal Decree-Law No. 6 of 2025, extends central bank licensing to virtual asset payment services and to platforms that enable financial services, with a one-year transition that ended in September 2026. Free-zone tax treatment, no personal income tax, and active government tokenization projects complete a deliberate national bid to be the industry's operating base; FATF removed the UAE from its grey list in 2024 as the AML build-out matured. * Dubai Law No. 4 of 2022 and VARA rulebooks [Dubai VA Law (2022); VARA Regulations 2023, as updated] | In force Establishes VARA and mandatory licensing for virtual asset activities in Dubai outside the DIFC: exchange, broker-dealer, custody, advisory, lending, and issuance, each under an activity rulebook with marketing regulations covering promotion to Dubai audiences. Penalties: Unlicensed activity and unlawful marketing draw fines, cease orders, and referral; VARA has fined and shut unlicensed operators. Source: Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority * CBUAE Payment Token Services Regulation [Central Bank regulation, 2024] | In force Licenses issuance of dirham-referenced payment tokens with full reserve backing and restricts payment use in the UAE to licensed dirham tokens, while foreign-currency tokens face registration and use limitations; the first licensed dirham stablecoins were approved from late 2024. Penalties: Unlicensed issuance or prohibited payment-token use violates central bank law, with administrative sanctions. Source: Central Bank of the UAE * ADGM FSRA virtual asset framework [FSMR amendments, 2018 as updated] | In force The region's first comprehensive regime: FSP permissions for operating multilateral trading facilities, custody, and dealing in virtual assets within ADGM, with capital, custody, and market-abuse requirements. Penalties: Unauthorized regulated activity in ADGM carries FSRA enforcement and financial penalties. Source: ADGM FSRA ============================================================================== UNITED KINGDOM (UK) | In transition | Europe URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/united-kingdom | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Financial Conduct Authority; Bank of England (systemic stablecoins); HM Treasury (framework) Signal: The rulebook is written; the regime switches on October 25, 2027. The United Kingdom spent 2025 and 2026 converting a consultation program into a complete rulebook, and is now in the gap between enactment and commencement. HM Treasury made the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026 on February 4, 2026, after both Houses approved the draft, bringing a broad set of cryptoasset activities inside the FCA's regulatory perimeter for the first time. On June 30, 2026 the FCA published the core final rules as five policy statements, PS26/9 through PS26/13, covering admissions and disclosures, a market abuse regime for cryptoassets, stablecoin issuance, regulated cryptoasset activities, and a bespoke prudential regime, together with guidance on the consumer duty, international firms, and operational resilience. The authorisation gateway opens on September 30, 2026 with an application window that closes February 28, 2027, and the regime comes into force on October 25, 2027. Until then, the older, narrower layer still governs: cryptoasset firms must register with the FCA under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, and since October 2023 the financial promotions regime has applied to crypto marketing, with a 24-hour cooling-off period and risk warnings for retail. Firms that apply during the gateway window may generally continue operating while the FCA processes their application, even past commencement; firms that do not apply must stop serving UK customers when the regime begins. Systemic sterling stablecoins get a second supervisor: the Bank of England published its policy approach on June 22, 2026, and a joint BoE-FCA paper on June 30 splits responsibilities where an issuer reaches systemic scale. The UK declined to copy MiCA. Rather than a standalone code, cryptoassets are slotted into the existing FSMA architecture: the same general prohibition, threshold conditions, senior managers regime, and consumer duty that govern banks and investment firms, adapted through a dedicated sourcebook. That makes the UK regime heavier per firm than MiCA in places, particularly on prudential requirements, where capital is set as the highest of a fixed minimum, a fixed-overhead requirement, or activity-based K-factors calibrated to crypto exposures. * Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026 [SI 2026/102, made February 4, 2026] | Partially in force The perimeter instrument. Creates new regulated activities for cryptoassets under FSMA, including operating a trading platform, dealing, arranging, custody, and stablecoin issuance, requiring firms serving UK customers to be FCA-authorised. Made by HM Treasury on February 4, 2026 after approval by both Houses; provisions enabling FCA rule-making and the handling of applications took effect shortly afterward, and the rest commences October 25, 2027. An amending instrument laid on September 15, 2026 would take UK-qualifying stablecoins out of dealing and arranging for now and add an exemption for overseas market-makers. Built on the powers of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, which first brought cryptoassets within the definition of specified investments. Penalties: From commencement, unauthorised regulated activity breaches the FSMA general prohibition: up to two years' imprisonment and an unlimited fine, with agreements potentially unenforceable. Source: FCA: a new regime for cryptoasset regulation * FCA final rules for the cryptoasset regime (PS26/9–PS26/13) [FCA policy statements, June 30, 2026] | Enacted, not yet in force Five policy statements finalise the rulebook: PS26/9 on admissions and disclosures and the market abuse regime for cryptoassets (MARC); PS26/10 on stablecoin issuance, including backing-asset and redemption rules; PS26/11 on regulated cryptoasset activities including trading platforms, intermediaries, custody, and staking; PS26/12 establishing the prudential regime (COREPRU/CRYPTOPRU) with K-factor capital and wind-down planning; and PS26/13 applying the wider FCA Handbook. Finalised guidance covers the consumer duty, international firms and branches, and operational resilience; two prudential guidance consultations closed July 30, 2026. Penalties: Enforced through the full FSMA toolkit from commencement: fines, restitution, prohibition, and criminal referral. Source: FCA policy statements: cryptoasset regime * Bank of England regime for systemic sterling stablecoins [BoE policy statement, June 22, 2026; joint BoE-FCA approach, June 30, 2026] | Pending Where a sterling-denominated stablecoin reaches systemic scale, the Bank of England becomes supervisor under the Banking Act 2009 recognition framework as amended by FSMA 2023. Its draft Code of Practice was consulted on alongside the June 2026 policy statement, with the consultation closing September 22, 2026 and a final code expected by the end of 2026. The joint approach paper allocates responsibilities between the Bank and FCA and describes when dual supervision applies. Penalties: Recognised systemic issuers face Bank of England directions and enforcement under the Banking Act framework. Source: Bank of England * Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (cryptoasset provisions) [c. 29, ss. 22, 65–71 and Sch. 6] | In force The enabling statute: brought cryptoassets within the scope of regulated financial services activity, created the framework for regulating fiat-backed stablecoins and payment systems, and gave Treasury the powers used to make the 2026 Regulations. Penalties: Framework act; obligations flow through instruments made under it. Source: legislation.gov.uk, FSMA 2023 * Money Laundering Regulations 2017: cryptoasset registration [SI 2017/692, as amended (reg. 14A)] | In force The current gateway: cryptoasset exchange and custodian wallet providers must register with the FCA for AML supervision before operating in the UK. The FCA has rejected or seen withdrawn a large majority of applications since 2020. Registration continues until the 2027 regime supersedes it for authorised firms. Penalties: Operating unregistered is a criminal offence; the FCA maintains a public list of unregistered firms. Source: FCA cryptoasset AML registration * Financial promotions regime for cryptoassets [Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) (Amendment) Order 2023] | In force Since October 8, 2023, marketing qualifying cryptoassets to UK consumers requires approval by an authorised person, an FCA-registered firm's own communication, or an exemption, with mandatory risk warnings, a 24-hour cooling-off period for first-time investors, and a ban on incentives to invest. Penalties: Communicating an unlawful promotion is a criminal offence punishable by up to two years' imprisonment and a fine. Source: FCA cryptoasset financial promotions Q: When does crypto become regulated in the UK? A: The full regime commences October 25, 2027. The rules are already final (published June 30, 2026), and the FCA begins taking authorisation applications on September 30, 2026. AML registration and the financial promotions rules apply now. Q: What happens to firms that don't apply before commencement? A: Firms that submit a completed application during the gateway window can generally keep operating while the FCA decides, even past October 2027. Firms that do not apply must cease regulated cryptoasset activity with UK customers at commencement or commit a criminal offence. Q: Is the UK regime the same as MiCA? A: No. The UK integrates crypto into its existing FSMA framework, applying the senior managers regime, consumer duty, and a bespoke prudential sourcebook, rather than enacting a standalone code. Coverage is broadly similar; the mechanics, capital treatment, and supervisory style differ, and there is no EU-style passport between the two. ============================================================================== UNITED STATES (US) | Partial | Americas URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/united-states | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: SEC, CFTC, FinCEN, OCC, Federal Reserve, FDIC, IRS; state regulators (NYDFS, DFPI, and counterparts) Signal: One federal statute in force, a second stalled in the Senate, and the agencies writing the rulebook themselves. The United States regulates crypto through an accumulating stack rather than a single code. The first layer is old law applied to new assets: the Bank Secrecy Act has treated exchangers of convertible virtual currency as money services businesses since FinCEN's 2013 guidance, the CFTC has treated bitcoin as a commodity since 2015, and the SEC has applied the Howey investment contract test to token sales since the 2017 DAO Report. The second layer arrived in July 2025, when the GENIUS Act became the first federal statute written for crypto, licensing payment stablecoin issuers. The third layer, the CLARITY Act covering market structure for everything else, passed the House in July 2025 and failed its first Senate test on September 15, 2026, when cloture on the motion to proceed fell 49–50, eleven votes short of the 60 needed. A motion to reconsider keeps a post-election revival procedurally possible; otherwise the bill dies with the 119th Congress. Agency posture changed as much as statute. Under Chair Paul Atkins the SEC formally retired regulation by enforcement, dismissed or settled most legacy crypto cases, stood up a Crypto Task Force under Commissioner Hester Peirce, and announced Project Crypto in July 2025 as a rulemaking agenda covering an investment-contract off-ramp test, an innovation exemption for tokenized securities, capital-raising pathways, and broker-dealer custody of non-security crypto. On August 18, 2026 the agency proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, its first permanent crypto rule: a $5 million startup exemption and a $75 million annual fundraising exemption for crypto offerings, with disclosure on a new Form 1-CRYPTO, state preemption, and a safe harbor for assets whose issuers have completed their promised managerial work. Treasury proposed its GENIUS definitions the same day. Two days after the Senate vote, on September 17, the SEC issued its innovation exemption for on-chain trading of tokenized stocks, and the CFTC sent the White House a pre-rule filing for a crypto asset market regime built on its existing authority. The CFTC had moved in lockstep all year: the two agencies signed a memorandum of understanding on March 11, 2026, and on March 17 issued a joint interpretive release sorting crypto assets into five categories and naming sixteen, including ether, XRP, and solana, as digital commodities. On May 29, 2026 the CFTC approved the first bitcoin perpetual futures contract on a US designated exchange. All of it is guidance, exemptive relief, and rulemaking that a future administration can reverse, which is why the industry still wants the statute. The last week of September showed the pattern continuing. On September 24, 2026 the Federal Reserve Board proposed its GENIUS Act rules for stablecoin issuers affiliated with Board-supervised banks, requiring full backing in short-term Treasuries and other high-quality liquid assets, standardized capital charges for credit and operational risk, and treating certain third-party yield arrangements as presumptively prohibited interest, with a companion proposal setting the application process for bank subsidiaries; comments close 60 days after Federal Register publication. The same day CFTC staff updated their crypto FAQs to let futures commission merchants and clearinghouses hold customer funds in tokenized versions of permitted investments and keep required records on a blockchain. On September 25 the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance added staff answers on when token buybacks, network upgrades, and promotional claims do and do not signal the managerial efforts that make an asset an investment contract, and Commissioner Hester Peirce, who leads the Crypto Task Force, announced that she will leave the Commission on October 2, 2026, leaving Chair Atkins and Commissioner Uyeda as its only members. Below the federal layer, state law still decides who may serve customers. Most states reach crypto through money transmission statutes; New York has run its BitLicense since 2015, California's Digital Financial Assets Law went operative on July 1, 2026, and Illinois enacted a similar regime in 2025. The state tracker follows eleven states in detail. Taxation runs on its own track: crypto is property for federal tax purposes, brokers began reporting gross proceeds on the new Form 1099-DA for 2025, and the IRS proposed digital-delivery rules in March 2026. * GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act) [Pub. L. 119-27; S. 1582, 119th Cong.] | In force Signed July 18, 2025. Creates a federal licensing regime for payment stablecoin issuers, with a dual track through federal banking regulators or certified state regimes. Requires 1:1 reserves in cash, Treasuries, and other high-quality liquid assets, monthly reserve disclosure, redemption rights, and Bank Secrecy Act compliance, and prohibits paying interest or yield on the stablecoin itself. Licensing takes effect January 18, 2027, and from July 18, 2028 service providers may not offer any payment stablecoin to US persons unless a licensed issuer stands behind it. The OCC proposed issuer rules in March 2026, FinCEN and OFAC proposed the illicit-finance program rules, and on August 18, 2026 Treasury proposed the section 3 definitions of issuing, offering, and selling in the United States, with comments due October 19, 2026. On September 24, 2026 the Federal Reserve Board proposed its own rules for issuers affiliated with Board-supervised banks (Dockets R-1899 and R-1900): full reserve backing, standardized capital requirements, a presumption that certain third-party yield arrangements are prohibited interest, and an application procedure for bank subsidiaries, with comments due 60 days after Federal Register publication. Penalties: Issuing a payment stablecoin without approval becomes unlawful at effectiveness; regulators hold cease-and-desist and civil money penalty authority, with escalated penalties for knowing violations. Source: Congress.gov, S. 1582 * CLARITY Act (Digital Asset Market Clarity Act) [H.R. 3633, 119th Cong.] | Pending The market structure bill. Creates a 'digital commodity' category with CFTC jurisdiction over spot markets, preserves SEC authority over digital securities and investment-contract offerings, and establishes registration for digital commodity exchanges, brokers, dealers, and custodians with segregation and bankruptcy-priority protections for customers and statutory protection for self-custody. Passed the House 294–134 on July 17, 2025. The Senate Banking Committee advanced a 309-page version 15–9 on May 14, 2026, adding a DeFi trading protocol framework, an insolvency safe harbor, a bar on yield for idle stablecoin balances, and illicit-finance provisions; Senate Agriculture advanced its companion Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act 12–11 on January 29, 2026. Placed on the Senate calendar June 1, 2026 (No. 423). A final text released September 13 added a divest-or-blind-trust ethics rule for covered officials and spouses, enforceable by state attorneys general alongside DOJ. On September 15, 2026 the Senate rejected cloture on the motion to proceed 49–50 (Roll Call Vote 234). No Democrat voted yes; Republicans Collins, Hawley, and Moran voted no, and Tillis switched to no so he could enter a motion to reconsider. The bill remains on the calendar, and without a lame-duck agreement it expires when the 119th Congress ends on January 3, 2027. Penalties: If enacted, operating an unregistered digital commodity intermediary would violate the Commodity Exchange Act, with most CFTC rulemakings due within 360 days. Source: Congress.gov, H.R. 3633 * Joint SEC-CFTC Interpretive Release on crypto asset classification [Interpretive release, March 17, 2026] | Guidance / regulatory The agencies' shared taxonomy: digital commodities, digital collectibles, digital tools, stablecoins, and digital securities, with sixteen named assets (including ether, XRP, solana, cardano, and dogecoin) classified as digital commodities. Issued under the March 11, 2026 SEC-CFTC memorandum of understanding committing both agencies to harmonized crypto policy. Guidance rather than statute: it governs staff practice today but can be revised by a future Commission. Penalties: Interpretive only; enforcement continues under existing securities and commodities law. Source: SEC.gov * SEC Project Crypto rulemaking agenda [SEC regulatory agenda, 2025–2026] | Guidance / regulatory Announced July 31, 2025 and elaborated through 2026: a formal test for when a crypto asset ceases to be an investment contract, a temporary 'innovation exemption' permitting limited trading of tokenized securities on novel platforms, new capital-raising pathways for crypto offerings, a custody rule allowing broker-dealers to hold non-security crypto including payment stablecoins, and transfer-agent modernization for blockchain recordkeeping. Regulation Crypto Assets (Release 33-11434), proposed August 18, 2026, would create a $5 million startup exemption over four years and a two-tier fundraising exemption up to $75 million per year, with Form 1-CRYPTO disclosure, preemption of state registration, and a safe harbor once an issuer's promised managerial efforts are complete; comments close October 20, 2026. The innovation exemption followed on September 17, 2026 as a standalone exemptive order, and on September 25, 2026 Division of Corporation Finance staff added FAQ answers on token buybacks, network upgrades, and promotional claims. The SEC and CFTC are also jointly advancing extended and 24-hour trading initiatives. Penalties: Rulemaking agenda; obligations attach as individual rules are finalized. Source: SEC Crypto Task Force * SEC Innovation Exemption for tokenized NMS stock [Exchange Act Release No. 34-106402 (September 17, 2026)] | In force Five-year conditional exemptions, running to September 17, 2031, under which Tokenized Securities Venues may trade tokenized versions of exchange-listed US stocks through permissioned automated market makers and liquidity pools without registering as exchanges, and liquidity providers supplying those pools are exempt from the dealer definition. Conditions include allow-listed participant wallets, rights identical to the underlying shares, trading halts synchronized with the primary market, limits of 75 symbols and 0.25% of volume for the most liquid stocks (250 symbols and 2.5% for all others), and at least 30 days' notice to an issuer, which may object, before a third party tokenizes its stock. The Commission requested public comment on all aspects. Penalties: Relief is conditional; activity outside the conditions falls back under exchange and dealer registration requirements and SEC enforcement. Source: SEC press release 2026-90 * CFTC crypto asset market regime (pre-rule) [Regulation of Crypto Asset Transactions and Crypto Asset Markets, RIN 3038-AF80; sent for White House review September 17, 2026] | Proposed After the CLARITY Act stalled, the CFTC submitted a pre-rule filing for White House regulatory review, the first step toward a new CFTC-registered category of crypto asset market using the agency's existing authority over leveraged and margined retail commodity trading. An advance notice and comment period would follow review, with a proposed rule expected in 2027. The approach cannot give the CFTC authority over unleveraged spot trading, which still requires legislation. Penalties: Pre-rule stage; no obligations attach until a final rule is adopted, not expected before late 2027. Source: PYMNTS, September 2026 * Executive Order 14178: Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology [E.O. 14178] | In force Signed January 23, 2025. Set the administration's policy of supporting lawful dollar-backed stablecoins and self-custody, prohibited agencies from establishing a central bank digital currency, revoked the prior administration's digital asset order, and created the President's Working Group on Digital Asset Markets, whose July 2025 report set the legislative roadmap the GENIUS and CLARITY Acts followed. Penalties: Directive to agencies; no direct private obligations. Source: Federal Register * Executive Order establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile [Executive order of March 6, 2025] | In force Directs Treasury to hold bitcoin forfeited to the federal government as a strategic reserve, not to be sold, with a separate stockpile for other forfeited digital assets, and authorizes budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional bitcoin. Several states followed with their own reserve statutes (see the state tracker: Texas, New Hampshire, Arizona). Penalties: Government asset-management directive; no private obligations. Source: The White House * Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act [H.R. 1919, 119th Cong.] | Pending Passed the House in July 2025 during 'Crypto Week' alongside the GENIUS and CLARITY Acts. Would prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a retail central bank digital currency or using one to implement monetary policy. Awaits Senate action; the substance is partially covered in the interim by E.O. 14178's CBDC prohibition. Penalties: Would bind the Federal Reserve; no private obligations. Source: Congress.gov, H.R. 1919 * Bank Secrecy Act coverage of virtual currency [31 U.S.C. § 5311 et seq.; FinCEN Guidance FIN-2013-G001 and FIN-2019-G001] | In force Exchangers and administrators of convertible virtual currency are money services businesses: FinCEN registration, AML programs, suspicious activity and currency transaction reporting, and the travel rule apply. This has been the enforceable floor of US crypto regulation for over a decade and remains the basis for major criminal resolutions. Penalties: Civil money penalties and criminal liability for unregistered money transmitting businesses under 18 U.S.C. § 1960. Source: FinCEN * Digital asset tax treatment and broker reporting (Form 1099-DA) [IRC § 6045; T.D. 10000 (2024); proposed regulations of March 5, 2026] | In force Crypto is property for federal tax purposes (Notice 2014-21). Custodial brokers report gross proceeds on Form 1099-DA beginning with 2025 transactions, with basis reporting phasing in for 2026; the March 2026 proposed regulations facilitate digital delivery of the form. Congress repealed the DeFi front-end broker rule in April 2025 under the Congressional Review Act. Penalties: Standard information-reporting and accuracy-related penalties apply. Source: IRS digital assets Q: Is cryptocurrency legal in the United States? A: Yes. Buying, holding, self-custodying, and trading crypto are legal nationwide. What is regulated is the business layer: issuing a payment stablecoin requires approval under the GENIUS Act once effective, exchanges and custodians need state licenses (and federal registration where securities or derivatives are involved), and all money-services businesses carry Bank Secrecy Act obligations. Q: Has the CLARITY Act passed? A: No. The House passed it in July 2025. In the Senate, both committees of jurisdiction advanced their versions in the first half of 2026, the bill reached the floor calendar June 1, and cloture on the motion to proceed was filed August 8, 2026. On September 15, 2026 the Senate rejected that motion 49–50, eleven votes short of 60. A motion to reconsider was entered, so leadership could bring it back after the November elections if a deal emerges; otherwise the bill expires with the 119th Congress on January 3, 2027 and would have to be reintroduced. Q: Who regulates crypto in the US, the SEC or the CFTC? A: Both, divided by asset character. Under the March 2026 joint guidance, digital commodities (bitcoin, ether, and fourteen other named assets) fall primarily to the CFTC in spot markets, while digital securities and investment-contract offerings belong to the SEC. The CLARITY Act would write that split into statute; while it is stalled, the agencies are extending it through their own rules. Q: Can US stablecoins pay interest? A: Not the issuer, on the coin itself: the GENIUS Act prohibits paying holders interest or yield solely for holding the stablecoin, and the Senate's 2026 CLARITY text extends a bar on yield for idle balances at intermediaries while permitting activity-based rewards. Bank regulators have proposed treating coordinated affiliate yield arrangements as evasive. ============================================================================== VIETNAM (VN) | In transition | Asia-Pacific URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/vietnam | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Ministry of Finance (pilot); State Bank of Vietnam (payments) Signal: First legal recognition, and a five-year market pilot. Vietnam, long one of the world's highest-adoption markets operating in a legal vacuum, wrote digital assets into law for the first time with the Law on Digital Technology Industry, passed in June 2025 and effective January 1, 2026. The statute defines virtual assets and crypto assets, distinguishes them from securities and fiat, and assigns the government authority to set business conditions. A companion government resolution launched a five-year pilot for a regulated domestic crypto market, channelling issuance and trading through licensed institutions under Ministry of Finance supervision, with capital requirements designed to keep early participation institutional. The State Bank of Vietnam's prohibition on using crypto as a means of payment remains in force, and the pilot's licensing decisions through 2026 will determine how much of the enormous informal market moves onshore. * Law on Digital Technology Industry [Passed June 14, 2025; effective January 1, 2026] | In force Vietnam's first statute recognizing digital assets: defines virtual assets and crypto assets, excludes them from legal-tender status, and gives the government authority to set business conditions, cybersecurity, and AML standards for the sector. Penalties: Framework statute; obligations attach through implementing instruments. Source: Government of Vietnam * Resolution piloting the crypto asset market [Government resolution, 2025 (five-year pilot)] | In force Authorizes a supervised pilot in which licensed institutions may issue and operate trading in crypto assets under Ministry of Finance oversight, with high capital thresholds and phased scope. Penalties: Activity outside the pilot remains unlicensed; the payments ban continues to apply. Source: Government of Vietnam ============================================================================== ARIZONA (AZ) | Partial | US State URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/us-arizona | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Arizona State Treasurer; Department of Revenue (unclaimed property) Signal: A budget-neutral reserve from unclaimed property, after vetoes of the bolder bills. Arizona's 2025 session produced the country's most fought-over reserve legislation. Governor Hobbs vetoed the bills authorizing direct state investment in crypto, then signed HB 2749, which built a Bitcoin and Digital Assets Reserve Fund without spending appropriated money: unclaimed digital assets escheat to the state in kind, staking and airdrop proceeds accrue to the fund, and the treasurer manages holdings under custody standards. The state had already established crypto-friendly ground rules: electronic signature and smart contract recognition dates to 2017, and tax law excludes certain airdrop receipts from state income calculation. * HB 2749: Bitcoin and Digital Assets Reserve Fund [Signed May 2025] | In force Modernizes unclaimed-property law so abandoned digital assets are delivered to the state in native form, creates a reserve fund holding them along with staking and airdrop proceeds, and sets treasurer custody duties, all without appropriating state money for purchases. Penalties: Escheatment obligations bind holders of abandoned property under standard unclaimed-property penalties. Source: Arizona State Legislature ============================================================================== CALIFORNIA (CA) | Comprehensive | US State URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/us-california | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) Signal: DFAL is live: license, pending application, or exit. California's Digital Financial Assets Law became operative on July 1, 2026, and immediately created the country's second full crypto licensing regime. Enacted in 2023 as AB 39 and SB 401 and delayed a year by AB 1934, DFAL requires anyone engaging in digital financial asset business activity, exchanging, transferring, or storing digital assets, with or on behalf of a California resident to hold a DFPI license, have a completed application pending, or fit an exemption; the DFPI opened applications through NMLS on March 9, 2026, with net worth and surety bond requirements set by the DFPI. Timely applicants may keep operating while review is pending. Governor Newsom signed SB 97 on June 30, 2026, an urgency bill that repealed DFAL's stablecoin-approval provisions and limited the pending-application safe harbor to completed applications. After the Office of Administrative Law disapproved an earlier version in May 2026, the DFPI's final licensing regulations took effect June 29, 2026, two days before the law went live. DFAL also carries the nation's toughest kiosk rules, including a $1,000 daily transaction limit per customer and operator disclosure duties. Given the size of the California market, DFAL functions as a near-national compliance floor the way the BitLicense once did. Governor Newsom signed two more digital asset statutes on September 27, 2026. AB 2409 bars state and local officials and employees with procurement authority from issuing meme coins, and from January 1, 2027 bars digital asset service providers from offering California residents meme coins issued by or in partnership with federal, state, or local officials; enforcement is civil, through the Attorney General, district attorneys, city attorneys, and county counsel. SB 1208 extends the state money laundering statute to digital assets, authorizes warrants to seize wallets and accounts holding suspected crime proceeds, and creates a forfeiture process, with a sunset of January 1, 2032. A third bill, AB 1180, lets the DFPI adopt rules allowing specified licensing fees to be paid in stablecoins from July 1, 2027. * Digital Financial Assets Law [Cal. Fin. Code §§ 3101–3601 (AB 39/SB 401, 2023; AB 1934, 2024; SB 97, 2026); operative July 1, 2026] | In force Licensing, supervision, examination, and enforcement for digital financial asset business activity serving California residents, wherever the firm is located: net worth and bonding, custody and disclosure standards, and kiosk limits including the $1,000 daily cap. Applications via NMLS since March 9, 2026; a completed application by July 1, 2026 preserves operating ability during review. Final DFPI regulations took effect June 29, 2026. Penalties: Up to $100,000 per day for unlicensed activity and up to $20,000 per day per material violation for licensees (Fin. Code § 3407), accruing until the violation ceases. Source: California DFPI, Digital Financial Assets * Meme coin restrictions for public officials [AB 2409 (2025–2026 Session), signed September 27, 2026; operative January 1, 2027] | Enacted, not yet in force Prohibits California public officers and employees from issuing meme coins, defined as digital assets marketed around memes, characters, or trends whose value derives mainly from public interest and speculation, and prohibits digital asset service providers from offering California residents meme coins issued on or after January 1, 2027 by or in partnership with federal, state, or local officials. Penalties: Civil enforcement only: the Attorney General may seek injunctions and disgorgement, and district attorneys, city attorneys, and county counsel may enforce the issuance ban. Source: Office of Governor Gavin Newsom, September 27, 2026 * Money laundering: digital assets [SB 1208 (2025–2026 Session), signed September 27, 2026; effective January 1, 2027; sunsets January 1, 2032] | Enacted, not yet in force Extends the state money laundering statute to digital assets, authorizes search warrants to seize digital wallets and accounts holding suspected proceeds of crime, and creates a forfeiture process with notice to potential owners; unclaimed forfeited assets fund victim restitution. Penalties: Money laundering penalties under Penal Code § 186.10 apply to digital assets; seized assets are subject to forfeiture. Source: Office of Governor Gavin Newsom, September 27, 2026 ============================================================================== CONNECTICUT (CT) | Partial | US State URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/us-connecticut | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Connecticut Department of Banking Signal: The counter-model: no state crypto holdings, tighter transmission rules. Connecticut legislated the opposite of the reserve trend. HB 7082, signed in mid-2025 and effective October 1, 2025, prohibits state and local government from accepting, holding, or investing in virtual currency and from establishing a crypto reserve, the first categorical state ban of its kind, while simultaneously tightening the existing money-transmission coverage of crypto: enhanced disclosures for virtual currency customers, parental-consent requirements for minors, and new duties and transaction limits for crypto kiosks aimed at elder-fraud patterns. Crypto businesses have needed Connecticut money transmitter licenses under Banking Department interpretation for years; the 2025 act writes the consumer-protection layer into statute. * HB 7082: state crypto prohibition and money transmission amendments [Public Act 25-66, effective October 1, 2025] | In force Bars state and municipal acceptance, holding, or investment of virtual currency; adds disclosure, receipt, and refund duties for virtual currency money transmitters; and imposes kiosk transaction limits and warnings targeting fraud against older customers. Penalties: Enforced through Banking Department authority over money transmitters; unlicensed transmission remains a criminal offence. Source: Connecticut General Assembly ============================================================================== FLORIDA (FL) | Partial | US State URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/us-florida | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Florida Office of Financial Regulation; CFO/Treasury (policy) Signal: Money transmission for exchanges, and a 2026 state license for stablecoin issuers. Florida folded crypto into its money services framework rather than building a bespoke regime: 2022 legislation defined virtual currency in Chapter 560 and clarified that intermediating its transmission requires an Office of Financial Regulation money transmitter license, effective January 2023, which captured fiat-touching exchanges while leaving pure two-party crypto activity outside. The state pairs that light structure with aggressive pro-industry posture: CFO-led proposals for state investment in bitcoin advanced in the 2025 session but died in May 2025 and again in 2026, a CBDC-hostile stance was written into the state's UCC definitions in 2023, and enforcement focuses on fraud through the securities and consumer-protection statutes. The 2026 session added the first bespoke pieces: HB 175 requires qualified payment stablecoin issuers to hold an Office of Financial Regulation license or exemption, effective June 26, 2026, and HB 505 requires crypto kiosk registration with disclosure and refund duties from January 1, 2027. * Money services coverage of virtual currency [Fla. Stat. ch. 560, as amended by HB 273 (2022), effective January 2023] | In force Defines virtual currency and requires a money transmitter license for intermediaries transmitting it; two-party transactions without an intermediary fall outside, and licensing, net worth, and reporting run through the OFR. Penalties: Unlicensed money transmission is a felony under Florida law, alongside administrative fines. Source: Florida Office of Financial Regulation * HB 175: payment stablecoin issuer licensing [Ch. 2026-176, Laws of Florida; effective June 26, 2026] | In force Requires qualified payment stablecoin issuers to obtain Office of Financial Regulation licensure or an exemption, requires written notice from out-of-state issuers, provides for OFR supervision alone or jointly with the OCC, clarifies that payment stablecoins are not securities, and requires trust companies engaging in stablecoin activity to obtain approval. Penalties: Unlicensed issuance draws OFR administrative sanctions under the amended money services and trust statutes. Source: Florida Senate: HB 175 (2026) ============================================================================== ILLINOIS (IL) | In transition | US State URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/us-illinois | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR); Secretary of State (securities) Signal: A Midwest BitLicense, enacted and phasing in. Illinois enacted the third full state crypto regime in August 2025: the Digital Assets and Consumer Protection Act directs the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to license digital asset business activity conducted with Illinois residents, exchange, custody, transfer, and related services, with customer-asset segregation, disclosure, complaint handling, and fitness requirements modeled on New York's and California's frameworks, and the companion Digital Asset Kiosk Act imposes registration, fee caps, and fraud-warning duties on crypto ATMs. Licensing obligations phase in as IDFPR completes rulemaking, with the core requirements taking effect in 2027, so the regime sits today between enactment and enforcement. Illinois already applies its Transmitters of Money Act to fiat-touching crypto business, and the Attorney General and Secretary of State pursue crypto fraud under the state's securities law, which has produced steady enforcement against unregistered offerings and scams in the interim. * Digital Assets and Consumer Protection Act [Enacted August 2025; licensing phasing in through 2027] | Enacted, not yet in force IDFPR licensing for digital asset business activity with Illinois residents: registration, financial responsibility, custody and segregation of customer assets, disclosures, and examination authority, with a kiosk registration regime alongside. Obligations attach as rulemaking completes, with core licensing effective in 2027. Penalties: Once effective, unlicensed activity draws civil penalties and orders under the Act; existing money-transmitter and securities law applies in the interim. Source: IDFPR ============================================================================== LOUISIANA (LA) | Comprehensive | US State URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/us-louisiana | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions (OFI) Signal: A dedicated virtual currency license, quietly in force since 2023. Louisiana runs one of the few dedicated state virtual currency regimes outside the coasts. The Virtual Currency Businesses Act, enacted in 2020 with licensing effective January 2023, requires a license or registration from the Office of Financial Institutions for virtual currency business activity with Louisiana residents, exchange, transfer, and custody, with net worth, bonding, and reporting obligations scaled to activity and a small-volume registration tier. The state has paired it with a run of pro-crypto statutes: a 2024 law protecting self-custody and the right to run a node and barring participation in CBDC testing, and mining-friendly provisions treating home and industrial mining as permitted uses. In 2026, Act 923 repealed the Virtual Currency Businesses Act's scheduled July 1, 2027 sunset, and Act 482 added kiosk refund and customer-support duties, both effective August 1, 2026. * Virtual Currency Businesses Act [La. R.S. 6:1381 et seq. (2020); licensing from January 2023; sunset repealed by Act 923 of 2026] | In force License or registration required for virtual currency business activity with residents: exchange, transfer, storage, and administration, with tangible net worth, surety bond, examination, and annual reporting requirements administered by the OFI. Penalties: Unlicensed activity draws civil money penalties and cease-and-desist orders under the Act. Source: Louisiana OFI * Blockchain Basics Act [HB 488 (2024)] | In force Protects self-custody, node operation, and home mining within zoning limits, exempts miners and stakers from money-transmitter licensing for those activities, and bars state participation in CBDC pilots. Penalties: Constrains state and local action; no private penalty regime. Source: Louisiana State Legislature ============================================================================== NEW HAMPSHIRE (NH) | Partial | US State URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/us-new-hampshire | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: NH Banking Department; State Treasurer (reserve) Signal: Exempt from transmission law, and first to authorize a state crypto reserve. New Hampshire made two moves a decade apart that bracket the permissive model. In 2017, HB 436 exempted persons using virtual currency from the state's money transmission registration, one of the earliest and broadest such exemptions, which combined with the absence of income and sales taxes to make the state a crypto-business host out of proportion to its size. In May 2025, HB 302 made it the first state to authorize its treasurer to invest public funds in digital assets, capped at 5% of designated funds and effectively limited to bitcoin by a $500 billion market-cap floor, with custody standards requiring qualified custodians or US-regulated exchange products. The 2026 session added HB 639, effective September 8, 2026, which bars state and local limits on paying with crypto, self-custody, and running nodes and exempts mining from money-transmitter licensing, and SB 482, which adds crypto kiosk consumer protections from December 16, 2026. * Virtual currency exemption from money transmission [HB 436 (2017), RSA 399-G] | In force Exempts persons conducting business using transactions in convertible virtual currency from state money transmitter registration, removing the primary state licensing burden for crypto firms operating from New Hampshire. Penalties: Federal obligations (FinCEN MSB registration, BSA) still apply. Source: New Hampshire General Court * HB 302: public-fund digital asset investment [Signed May 2025] | In force Authorizes the treasurer to invest up to 5% of designated public funds in precious metals and digital assets with market capitalization above $500 billion, held via qualified custody or regulated exchange-traded products. Penalties: Public-investment statute; no private obligations. Source: New Hampshire General Court ============================================================================== NEW JERSEY (NJ) | No dedicated regime | US State URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/us-new-jersey | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: NJ Department of Banking and Insurance; Bureau of Securities Signal: Big market, borrowed rules: still no bespoke statute. New Jersey serves one of the largest crypto customer bases in the country without a crypto-specific licensing law. The Department of Banking and Insurance applies money transmission licensing to fiat-touching crypto business by interpretation, the Bureau of Securities has been among the most active state enforcers, its action against BlockFi's interest accounts helped set the national template for yield-product enforcement, and the Digital Asset and Blockchain Technology Act, which would create a licensing regime, has passed individual chambers repeatedly since 2022 without being enacted. Until it moves, New Jersey firms operate under the transmission-plus-securities overlay, and the state's posture is defined more by its enforcement docket than by statute. * Digital Asset and Blockchain Technology Act (pending) [Recurring bill, not enacted as of this review] | Pending Would require DOBI licensing for digital asset business activity with New Jersey residents, with disclosure, custody, and examination provisions; repeatedly passed one chamber without completing the process. Penalties: Not law; money transmission and securities statutes govern in the interim. Source: New Jersey Legislature ============================================================================== NEW YORK (NY) | Comprehensive | US State URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/us-new-york | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) Signal: The BitLicense: strictest in the nation since 2015. New York invented American crypto licensing and still runs its most demanding version. The BitLicense, 23 NYCRR Part 200, has required a license for virtual currency business activity involving New York or New Yorkers since 2015: receiving and transmitting, custody, exchange, issuance, and dealing all qualify, and firms can alternatively operate under a limited-purpose trust charter, which most large custodians chose. Approval takes years, the roster remains small relative to the market, and many platforms simply geofence the state. NYDFS supervision is the substance behind the label: coin-listing and delisting governance under the 2023 guidance, the 2022 stablecoin guidance requiring full backing, monthly attestations, and redemption within two business days for NYDFS-regulated dollar stablecoins, cybersecurity rules under Part 500, and an enforcement record that includes some of the largest crypto penalties anywhere. Under the GENIUS Act's dual-track design, NYDFS is positioned as the leading state pathway for payment stablecoin issuers, and the paused-then-revived interplay between federal certification and the existing New York regime is the thing to watch through 2027. In June 2026 NYDFS proposed a stablecoin regulation built to align New York's regime with Treasury's criteria for certifying state frameworks under the GENIUS Act. * BitLicense regulation [23 NYCRR Part 200 (2015)] | In force License required for virtual currency business activity involving New York: capital as NYDFS prescribes, custody and consumer-protection standards, AML and cybersecurity programs, prior approval for material changes and new products, and examination. The limited-purpose trust charter is the parallel path with fiduciary powers. Penalties: Unlicensed activity violates the Financial Services and Banking Laws; NYDFS enforcement has produced eight- and nine-figure settlements, license surrenders, and restitution orders. Source: NYDFS virtual currency businesses * NYDFS stablecoin guidance [Guidance of June 2022] | Guidance / regulatory Dollar stablecoins issued by NYDFS-regulated entities must be fully backed by segregated reserves of cash, Treasuries, and reverse repos, verified by monthly CPA attestation, and redeemable at par within two business days. Penalties: Enforced through supervision of regulated issuers. Source: NYDFS * Proposed NYDFS stablecoin regulation [Pre-proposed June 9, 2026] | Proposed Would write NYDFS's backing and redemption standards into regulation, specify permissible reserves, cap the reserves any single custodian may hold, and require independent audits and risk-management programs, aligned with Treasury's proposed requirements for GENIUS certification of state frameworks. The final rule would take effect with the GENIUS Act, with a one-year transition for existing New York-licensed issuers; a 60-day comment period follows publication in the State Register. Penalties: Once final, enforced through NYDFS supervision of licensed issuers. Source: NYDFS press release, June 9, 2026 ============================================================================== TEXAS (TX) | Partial | US State URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/us-texas | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Texas Department of Banking; Texas Comptroller (reserve); ERCOT (grid); State Securities Board Signal: Miner-friendly grid, exchange reserve rules, and a funded state bitcoin reserve. Texas regulates crypto with a light touch and invests in it with a heavy one. The Department of Banking's position under the Money Services Act treats pure crypto-to-crypto exchange as outside money transmission, while fiat-touching exchange and custody require licensing; HB 1666 (2023) added exchange obligations for platforms serving Texans, requiring customer asset segregation, reserves sufficient to meet withdrawals, and annual reporting. The state's commercial code recognized virtual currency control and perfection early (HB 4474, 2021). The 2025 session made Texas the first state with a funded, standalone bitcoin reserve: SB 21 established the Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve managed by the Comptroller outside the treasury, HB 4488 protected the fund, and the legislature appropriated $10 million for initial purchases. Meanwhile ERCOT's interconnection queue made Texas the center of American mining, with registration requirements for large flexible loads and demand-response programs that pay miners to curtail. The combination, minimal licensing, pro-mining grid policy, sovereign bitcoin exposure, is the fullest expression of the red-state crypto model. * HB 1666: exchange reserve and segregation requirements [Tex. Fin. Code ch. 160 (2023)] | In force Digital asset exchanges serving more than a threshold number of Texas customers must segregate customer funds, maintain reserves sufficient to honor withdrawals, avoid commingling, and file annual reports with the Department of Banking. Penalties: Violations draw Department of Banking enforcement and loss of ability to operate in Texas. Source: Texas Department of Banking * Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve [SB 21 and HB 4488 (2025), signed June 2025] | In force Creates a special fund outside the treasury for the state to hold bitcoin (limited to assets above a large market-cap threshold), managed by the Comptroller with authority to accept forfeitures and donations; a companion act shields the fund from sweeps, and $10 million was appropriated for purchases. The Comptroller made the first purchase, about $5 million of a spot bitcoin ETF, on November 20, 2025, pending custody arrangements, and in May 2026 named a reserve advisory committee and sought custody proposals. Penalties: Public-fund management statute; no private obligations. Source: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts ============================================================================== WYOMING (WY) | Comprehensive | US State URL: https://cryptoregulations.net/us-wyoming | Reviewed: September 28, 2026 | Regulator: Wyoming Division of Banking; Wyoming Stable Token Commission; Secretary of State Signal: The laboratory: SPDI banks, DAO law, and a state-issued stablecoin. Wyoming spent seven years legislating itself into the center of US crypto law. Its Special Purpose Depository Institution charter (2019) created a bank built for digital asset custody with 100% reserve requirements; its property-law statutes classified digital assets and secured their treatment under commercial law; the 2021 DAO LLC law and the 2024 Decentralized Unincorporated Nonprofit Association Act gave decentralized organizations working legal wrappers used far beyond the state; and dozens of companion acts cover everything from utility tokens to private keys, which courts may not compel disclosure of except in narrow circumstances. The 2023 Stable Token Act produced the Frontier Stable Token (FRNT), the first stablecoin issued by a US state. The Wyoming Stable Token Commission deployed it on public chains in August 2025 and opened it to public purchase through Kraken on January 7, 2026; it is fully backed by cash and Treasuries, with earnings directed to the state school foundation program. The 2026 session added a crypto kiosk licensing law and SPDI charter updates, and in March 2026 the Kansas City Fed granted a master account to Kraken Financial, a Wyoming SPDI. Wyoming's regime is permissive by design, but it is a real regime: chartered institutions face examination by the Division of Banking, and the state's framework has repeatedly supplied templates for federal debate, from crypto-native bank access to Fed accounts through DAO liability. * Special Purpose Depository Institutions Act [Wyo. Stat. § 13-12-101 et seq. (2019)] | In force Charters full-reserve depository institutions serving digital asset businesses: custody with bailment treatment, no lending of customer deposits, and Division of Banking supervision; the model for crypto-native banking arguments nationally. Penalties: Unchartered banking activity violates Wyoming banking law. Source: Wyoming Division of Banking * DAO LLC law and DUNA [Wyo. Stat. § 17-31 (2021); DUNA Act (2024)] | In force Recognizes DAOs as limited liability companies with member-managed or algorithmically managed governance, and (via the DUNA) as nonprofit associations able to contract, hold assets, and appear in court while remaining decentralized. Penalties: Entity-law consequences only; no penalty regime. Source: Wyoming Secretary of State * Wyoming Stable Token Act and FRNT [2023, amended 2026 (SF 21); deployed August 2025, public sale from January 2026] | In force Authorizes the Stable Token Commission to issue a fully backed, dollar-redeemable state stablecoin. The Frontier Stable Token (FRNT) was deployed on multiple public chains in August 2025 and opened to public purchase in January 2026, with reserves in cash and Treasuries and earnings directed to the state school foundation program; 2026 amendments set the trust reserve at 100% plus a separate liquidity account. Penalties: Reserve and redemption duties bind the Commission by statute. Source: Wyoming Stable Token Commission ============================================================================== DEADLINE CALENDAR 2024-06-30 | European Union: MiCA stablecoin titles apply. Titles III and IV (asset-referenced and e-money tokens) of MiCA become applicable. 2024-07-19 | South Korea: Virtual Asset User Protection Act in force. Korea's first-phase user protection and market abuse rules take effect. 2024-12-30 | European Union: MiCA fully applicable. CASP licensing and the balance of MiCA apply across the EU; the recast Transfer of Funds Regulation (travel rule) applies the same day. 2025-06-30 | Singapore: Singapore DTSP regime live. Digital token service providers serving customers outside Singapore must be licensed under the FSM Act 2022 or cease. 2025-07-18 | United States: GENIUS Act enacted. Federal payment stablecoin framework signed into law. 2025-08-01 | Hong Kong: Hong Kong Stablecoins Ordinance in force. HKMA licensing regime for fiat-referenced stablecoin issuers takes effect. 2025-10-31 | Hong Kong: Hong Kong stablecoin application cutoff. Pre-existing issuers must have applied to the HKMA or wind down within a month. 2026-01-01 | European Union: EU DAC8 reporting begins. Crypto-asset service providers begin collecting and reporting tax data under Directive (EU) 2023/2226. 2026-01-01 | Vietnam: Vietnam Digital Technology Industry Law effective. First Vietnamese statute recognizing digital and crypto assets takes effect. 2026-02-02 | Brazil: Brazil BCB VASP rules in force. Central bank authorization regime for virtual asset service providers begins, with transition windows. 2026-04-10 | Hong Kong: First stablecoin issuer licences granted. HKMA licenses Anchorpoint Financial and HSBC under the Stablecoins Ordinance, the first issuers authorized in Asia. 2026-07-01 | European Union: MiCA transition ends. Article 143(3) grandfathering closes; unauthorized CASPs must stop serving EU clients. 2026-07-01 | California: California DFAL operative. License or completed application required to serve California residents; up to $100,000/day for unlicensed activity. 2026-09-01 | Russia: Federal Law 282-FZ takes effect. Crypto trading through Bank of Russia-regulated intermediaries becomes lawful, with retail caps and the domestic payments ban retained. 2026-09-15 | United States: CLARITY Act cloture rejected, 49–50. The Senate fell eleven votes short of the 60 needed to proceed to H.R. 3633; a motion to reconsider keeps a post-election revival procedurally possible. 2026-09-17 | United States: SEC innovation exemption takes effect. Five-year exemptive order for trading tokenized exchange-listed stocks on Tokenized Securities Venues, running to September 17, 2031. 2026-09-30 | European Union: Comments close: Commission MiCA review consultation. The targeted consultation on the review of MiCA, open since May 20, 2026, closes; the Commission's application report is due in 2027. 2026-09-30 | South Africa: Comments close: draft Crypto Assets Manual. Treasury and the Reserve Bank's draft manual would require separate Reserve Bank authorisation for cross-border crypto asset services under exchange control. 2026-09-30 | United Kingdom: UK authorisation gateway opens. FCA begins accepting applications under the new cryptoasset regime. 2026-09-30 | United States: Senate window for CLARITY floor action. Cloture filed August 8; leadership targets floor consideration when the Senate returns, before the midterm calendar closes. 2026-10-01 | Brazil: Coaf reporting on self-custody transfers begins. Resolution BCB 588: transfers to or from self-custody wallets of US$10,000 or more must be reported to Coaf by the next business day. 2026-10-05 | Russia: Bank of Russia registers open. Directive 7429-U and Regulation 890-P take effect; exchangers and digital depositaries may apply for inclusion in the Bank of Russia registers. 2026-10-16 | Singapore: Comments close: MAS draft stablecoin legislation. Deadline for comments on Payment Services Act amendments creating a stablecoin issuance licence. 2026-10-19 | United States: Comments close: Treasury GENIUS section 3 rules. Deadline for comments on Treasury's proposed definitions of issuing, offering, and selling payment stablecoins in the United States. 2026-10-20 | United States: Comments close: SEC Regulation Crypto Assets. Deadline for comments on the SEC's proposed startup and fundraising exemptions for crypto asset offerings. 2026-11-06 | Brazil: Brazilian institutions cut off unauthorized providers. Resolution BCB 589: authorized institutions may no longer operate with virtual asset providers that lack BCB authorization. 2027-01-01 | California: California meme coin and digital asset money laundering laws take effect. AB 2409 restricts meme coins tied to public officials and SB 1208 extends money laundering law to digital assets. 2027-01-01 | Brazil: Expanded VASP supervisory reporting begins. Resolution BCB 589: providers report client balances, custody at home and abroad, proof of reserves, and staked assets. 2027-01-18 | United States: GENIUS Act outside effective date. Stablecoin framework effective no later than 18 months after enactment (earlier if final rules land first). 2027-02-28 | United Kingdom: UK authorisation window closes. Last day to apply in the FCA gateway window and keep operating under the saving provision while an application is assessed. 2027-04-09 | Australia: Digital Assets Framework Act commences. Digital asset platform and tokenised custody platform licensing begins, followed by a transition window for existing operators. 2027-07-01 | Russia: Russia licensing deadline for crypto intermediaries. Intermediaries must be licensed or registered by the Bank of Russia to keep operating under Federal Law 282-FZ. 2027-10-25 | United Kingdom: UK cryptoasset regime in force. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026 commence; FCA authorization required. 2028-07-18 | United States: GENIUS Act: unlicensed stablecoins barred from US distribution. From this date digital asset service providers may not offer or sell payment stablecoins to US persons unless a licensed issuer stands behind them. ============================================================================== GLOSSARY Airdrop: A distribution of tokens to wallet addresses without payment, often used in marketing. Tax authorities generally treat airdrops as income at receipt; securities regulators examine whether distribution schemes are disguised offerings. AML/CFT: Anti-money-laundering and countering the financing of terrorism: the compliance layer (customer identification, monitoring, suspicious activity reporting) that applies to crypto businesses in nearly every jurisdiction, usually before any prudential framework does. ART (asset-referenced token): MiCA's category for tokens that stabilize value by referencing a basket of assets, currencies, or crypto. ART issuers face MiCA's heaviest requirements, including authorization, reserves, and volume caps for use as a means of exchange. BitLicense: New York's virtual currency license under 23 NYCRR Part 200, in force since 2015. The first US state framework built specifically for crypto, and the model for California's DFAL and Illinois's 2025 law. CARF: The OECD's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework: a global standard for automatic exchange of tax information on crypto transactions. The EU implemented it through DAC8; dozens of jurisdictions have committed to exchanges beginning in 2027 and 2028. CASP (crypto-asset service provider): MiCA's licensed category covering exchange, custody, execution, advice, portfolio management, and transfer services for crypto-assets in the EU. CBDC (central bank digital currency): A digital liability of a central bank. Live at scale in few places, piloted in many; the US House passed a bill in July 2025 to bar the Federal Reserve from issuing a retail CBDC. CLARITY Act: The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (H.R. 3633): the US market structure bill dividing jurisdiction between the SEC and CFTC and creating a registration regime for digital commodity intermediaries. House-passed July 2025; the Senate rejected cloture on the motion to proceed 49–50 on September 15, 2026, leaving the bill stalled. Custody: Holding crypto assets on behalf of customers. A regulatory focus since FTX: modern frameworks require segregation of customer assets, bankruptcy protections, and in some regimes qualified or independent custodians. DAO (decentralized autonomous organization): An entity governed by token-holder voting and smart contracts. Wyoming pioneered legal recognition (2021 DAO LLC law, 2024 DUNA statute); most jurisdictions still fit DAOs awkwardly into partnership or company law. DAC8: Directive (EU) 2023/2226, extending EU tax cooperation rules to crypto. Reporting crypto-asset service providers must collect and report user and transaction data from January 1, 2026. DeFi (decentralized finance): Financial services delivered through smart contracts without a central intermediary. The hardest perimeter question in the field: the Senate's 2026 CLARITY text includes the first US statutory framework for DeFi trading protocols. DFAL: California's Digital Financial Assets Law (AB 39/SB 401, 2023, as amended): a BitLicense-style licensing regime administered by the DFPI, operative July 1, 2026. Digital commodity: The CLARITY Act's proposed category (and the SEC-CFTC guidance category) for crypto assets that are not securities: primarily CFTC-supervised in spot markets. The March 2026 joint release named 16 assets as digital commodities. Digital security: A crypto asset that is a security under applicable law, for instance a token sold as an investment contract. SEC-supervised in the US; equivalents exist in most securities regimes. DLT (distributed ledger technology): The database architecture underlying blockchains. Switzerland's 2021 'DLT Act' and the EU's DLT Pilot Regime regulate market infrastructure built on it. DORA: The EU's Digital Operational Resilience Act, applying since January 17, 2025. Imposes ICT risk management and incident reporting on financial entities including MiCA-licensed CASPs and issuers. DTSP: Digital token service provider: Singapore's category under the FSM Act 2022 for firms serving customers outside Singapore, licensable since June 30, 2025. E-money token (EMT): MiCA's category for stablecoins referencing a single official currency. Issuers must be credit institutions or e-money institutions; USDC and EURC are authorized examples, while USDT is not. ETF / ETP: Exchange-traded funds and products holding crypto. US spot bitcoin ETFs launched January 2024 and ether ETFs July 2024, moving substantial exposure into securities-regulated wrappers. FATF: The Financial Action Task Force, whose Recommendation 15 and travel rule set the global AML baseline for virtual assets. FATF mutual evaluations now grade countries on crypto supervision effectiveness. FIT21: The Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, the 2024 House-passed predecessor to the CLARITY Act. Never received a Senate vote. GENIUS Act: The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act, signed July 18, 2025: the first US federal crypto statute, licensing payment stablecoin issuers with 1:1 reserve, disclosure, and redemption requirements. Grandfathering / transition period: A window allowing firms operating under prior rules to continue while seeking authorization under a new regime. MiCA's closed July 1, 2026; the UK's runs through application review after October 2027. Howey test: The US Supreme Court's investment contract test (SEC v. W.J. Howey Co., 1946): an investment of money in a common enterprise with an expectation of profits from the efforts of others. Still the gateway question for whether a token sale is a securities offering. Innovation exemption: The SEC's September 17, 2026 exemptive order letting Tokenized Securities Venues trade tokenized versions of exchange-listed US stocks through permissioned automated market makers for five years, without registering as exchanges, while permanent rules are written. KYC (know your customer): Customer identification and verification obligations, the operational core of AML compliance for exchanges, brokers, and increasingly wallet providers. Market abuse (crypto): Manipulation, insider dealing, and unlawful disclosure applied to crypto markets. MiCA Title VI created the first cross-border crypto market abuse regime; the UK's MARC rules follow in 2027; Korea's VAUPA carries the world's harshest sentences. MiCA: The EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation ((EU) 2023/1114): the first comprehensive crypto framework in a major economy, covering issuance, stablecoins, service providers, and market abuse across 27 member states. Mining: Proof-of-work block production. Legal and increasingly courted in the US (several states passed 'right to mine' laws); licensed and export-oriented in Russia since November 2024; banned in China since 2021. Money transmission: The US state licensing category that covered most crypto exchange activity before bespoke regimes. Coverage varies: some states include virtual currency by statute, others by interpretation, a few exempt it. NFT (non-fungible token): A unique token typically representing media or membership. Most frameworks, including MiCA, largely exclude true NFTs, while regulators warn that fractionalized or serial issuance can re-enter securities territory. Passporting: The right to serve an entire market on one license. MiCA gives CASPs EU-wide passporting; its absence elsewhere is why firms hold dozens of state and national licenses. Payment stablecoin: The GENIUS Act's category: a digital asset designed to maintain a stable value against a fixed monetary amount and used for payment or settlement. Only approved issuers may issue one in the US once the Act is effective. PMLA: India's Prevention of Money Laundering Act, extended to virtual digital asset businesses in March 2023, requiring FIU-IND registration; the closest thing India has to a crypto licensing regime. Proof of reserves: Attestations that a custodian or issuer holds assets backing customer balances. Required in various forms by the GENIUS Act (monthly reserve disclosure), MiCA, and Hong Kong's stablecoin regime. Regulatory perimeter: The boundary between regulated and unregulated activity. The central design question of every crypto framework: the UK spent 2025–2026 consulting on exactly which activities sit inside it. Restricted dealer: Canada's interim registration category letting crypto trading platforms operate under undertakings while full registration is processed. Sandbox: A supervised environment for testing products under relaxed rules. Saudi Arabia, Colombia, and Israel have channelled most permitted crypto activity through sandboxes rather than full frameworks. SPDI: Wyoming's Special Purpose Depository Institution: a state bank charter built for digital asset custody, created in 2019 and the template for crypto-native banking arguments since. Stablecoin: A crypto asset engineered to hold a stable value, usually against a fiat currency. The most-regulated corner of the field: dedicated regimes are now law in the US, EU, Hong Kong, Japan, and the UAE, Canada's statute awaits its start date, Singapore is legislating its framework, and the UK's regime arrives in 2027. Staking: Locking tokens to help secure a proof-of-stake network in exchange for rewards. Treated variously as a service (SEC settlements 2023), a regulated activity (UK consultation), or a permitted exchange function (MiCA, with conditions). Strategic Bitcoin Reserve: The US policy, established by executive order in March 2025, of retaining forfeited bitcoin as a national reserve; several states (Texas, New Hampshire, Arizona) passed their own reserve or crypto-holdings laws in 2025. TDS (tax deducted at source): India's 1% withholding on virtual digital asset transfers under § 194S, a major drag on domestic exchange volumes since July 2022. TFR / travel rule: The FATF requirement, implemented in the EU by Regulation (EU) 2023/1113, that originator and beneficiary information accompany crypto transfers, applying in the EU since December 30, 2024. Tokenization / RWA: Issuing blockchain tokens representing real-world assets such as funds, bonds, or deposits. It grew fastest in 2026, with Hong Kong piloting secondary trading of tokenized funds and the SEC's September 2026 innovation exemption opening on-chain trading of tokenized US stocks. Travel rule threshold: The transfer value above which full originator/beneficiary data is mandatory. FATF suggests USD/EUR 1,000; the EU applies the rule from the first euro for CASP-to-CASP transfers. Unhosted / self-custody wallet: A wallet controlled by the user rather than a service provider. Point of political contention: the CLARITY Act includes statutory protection for self-custody; the EU imposes verification duties on transfers involving unhosted wallets above thresholds. VASP (virtual asset service provider): FATF's umbrella term for exchanges, custodians, and transfer services, adopted in national law from Brazil to Kenya. VATP: Virtual asset trading platform: Hong Kong's licensed exchange category under the AMLO regime, mandatory since June 2023. VAUPA: South Korea's Virtual Asset User Protection Act, in force July 19, 2024: custody, reserve, insurance, and market abuse rules, with the harshest criminal penalties in any crypto statute. White paper (MiCA): The mandatory disclosure document for offering crypto-assets to the EU public, filed with a national authority; misleading statements attract liability. Wildcat era: Shorthand, borrowed from 19th-century US banking, for the pre-framework years in which stablecoins and exchanges operated without dedicated supervision. Regulators from the BIS to the Fed have used the analogy to argue for issuer licensing.