Is crypto legal in Cambodia? Rules & regulation (2026)

The Non-Bank Financial Services Authority issued Prakas 093 on the Licensing and Management of Digital Asset Businesses, Cambodia's first securities-law framework for digital assets. It classifies digital assets (including Bitcoin) as financial instruments/securities, requires all Digital Asset Service Providers to obtain a SERC licence with ~USD 10 million minimum capital and prior regulatory sandbox testing.

The National Bank of Cambodia issued Prakas B7-024-735, ending the blanket prohibition on crypto for regulated institutions. Commercial banks and payment settlement institutions may now hold and service Group 1 crypto assets (tokenised traditional assets and asset-backed stablecoins) subject to prior NBC approval; unbacked crypto such as Bitcoin (Group 2) remains off-limits for banks.

The Financial Services Authority Council approved a draft proclamation proposed by SERC, covering nine chapters and 63 clauses on licensing and managing digital asset service providers. The decision advances the government's FinTech Policy 2023-2028 and was the direct precursor to the formal Prakas 093 gazetted in December 2025.

Cambodia adopted a five-year national fintech policy explicitly recognising digital assets (including Bitcoin) as a category of securities and financial instruments, and setting a framework for regulated permissive structures, formally signalling a pivot away from blanket prohibition toward supervised engagement.

The Financial Action Task Force delisted Cambodia after the country remedied AML/CFT deficiencies, including gaps in virtual asset service provider oversight. Removal reduced compliance pressure on Cambodian financial institutions and provided political space for the subsequent pro-crypto regulatory reforms.

The National Bank of Cambodia officially launched Bakong, a Hyperledger Iroha distributed-ledger payment system developed with SORAMITSU, enabling KHR/USD transfers by phone. Though not a cryptocurrency, Bakong established Cambodia as an early adopter of central-bank blockchain infrastructure and informed the later permissive turn in crypto regulation.

The Financial Action Task Force added Cambodia to its increased-monitoring list, citing strategic deficiencies including inadequate VASP oversight. The listing reinforced Cambodia's conservative regulatory stance on crypto and lasted until February 2023.

The National Bank of Cambodia, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia, and the General-Commissariat of National Police jointly declared that buying, selling, trading, or fund-raising through cryptocurrencies without authorisation is illegal and subject to penalties, establishing the de facto blanket ban that governed Cambodia for over six years.

The National Bank of Cambodia issued a notification to all banking and financial institutions prohibiting the use, circulation, purchase, sale, settlement, and advertisement of unauthorised cryptocurrencies, the first direct regulatory prohibition aimed at Cambodia's licensed financial sector.

The National Bank of Cambodia issued its first public position on Bitcoin, denying it recognition as a legitimate currency or payment instrument in the Cambodian market, setting the foundation for the series of prohibitions that followed over the next decade.