Is crypto legal in Armenia? Regulation & rules (2026)

The first package of Central Bank of Armenia regulations for crypto-asset service providers (Regulations 7/01 on licensing, 7/02 on minimum capital of ~$30,000–$530,000, and 7/05 on management registration) took legal effect. All existing providers must obtain a CBA licence by 31 January 2027 or cease operations; individual cash transactions remain permitted up to AMD 300,000 (~$785) until that same deadline.

The CBA Board approved the secondary rules that operationalise the July 2025 law: Regulation 7/01 (registration and licensing procedures), Regulation 7/02 (tiered minimum-capital floors), and Regulation 7/05 (fit-and-proper registration of senior managers of crypto-asset service providers and branches of foreign providers).

Armenia's comprehensive standalone crypto-assets law took effect, designating the CBA as sole regulator, requiring licences for all service providers (trading platforms, custodians, portfolio managers, advisers, token issuers), and incorporating explicit market-abuse prohibitions. Armenia became the first country in the South Caucasus to adopt an EU MiCA-modelled framework.

Parliament passed the Law on Crypto Assets alongside Civil Code amendments (classifying crypto as a distinct non-financial asset class, not money or a security) and Tax Code amendments (embedding a statutory definition of crypto asset). Industry groups objected to licensing costs and compliance burdens, prompting a cash-transaction transitional period.

The CBA announced it was drafting legislation on crypto assets closely following the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) and applying the 'same activity, same risk, same regulation' principle. The draft was expected to be filed with the National Assembly in early 2025.

The IMF published a Technical Assistance Report recommending Armenia clarify taxation of crypto-asset transactions and commit to the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) ahead of the country's 2027 information-exchange obligations. The report added international pressure to enact formal regulation promptly.

Armenia's tax authority allocated AMD 85 million (~$220,000) to acquire Chainalysis Reactor software, enabling real-time tracing of on-chain transactions and crypto-to-fiat conversions. This marked a shift from passive tolerance to active enforcement capability in the crypto sector ahead of formal regulation.

CBA officials and the Financial Monitoring Centre (Armenia's FIU) participated in a Council of Europe workshop reviewing FATF Recommendation 15, the EU's 5th AML Directive, and a draft package of AML law amendments covering virtual asset service providers (VASPs). It was Armenia's first structured international alignment exercise for virtual asset AML/CFT regulation.

Prime Minister Pashinyan attended the launch of a $50 million mining facility in Yerevan—envisaged to scale to 120,000 machines—operating under the government's Free Economic Zone framework. The high-profile inauguration signalled strong state support for positioning Armenia as a regional crypto-mining hub.

A governmental decree on the creation of a Free Economic Zone provided the legal and fiscal underpinning for large-scale crypto mining operations, allowing them to function without dedicated sectoral licensing. This became the operative legal basis for the first major mining farm two months later.