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

Issued May 6, 2022, COBAC Decision D-2022/071 prohibits banks, microfinance institutions, and payment service providers across all CEMAC member states—including Chad—from subscribing to, holding, exchanging, converting, or settling cryptocurrency or crypto-asset transactions, whether for own account or on behalf of clients.

Chad has no national VASP licensing or registration framework. The updated CEMAC financial-market regulation contains definitional provisions for virtual assets and VASPs but no operative licensing pathway for exchanges or custodians has been enacted at either the national or sub-regional level.

BEAC does not recognise cryptocurrency as legal tender and has publicly rejected broad private-crypto integration. The BEAC Governor (appointed March 1, 2024) confirmed the zone will permit only a central-bank-issued stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the CFA franc, explicitly ruling out dollar-backed private stablecoins that would drain foreign-exchange reserves.

In February 2025, BEAC convened a capacity-building workshop with COBAC and COSUMAF, with IMF support, to draft a harmonised sub-regional crypto-asset regulatory framework covering VASPs, AML/CFT, and consumer protection. Publication was anticipated later in 2025 but had not been confirmed as enacted as of early 2026.

COBAC D-2022/071 targets regulated financial institutions, not individuals. No Chadian law explicitly criminalises individual crypto ownership or peer-to-peer transactions. However, the banking prohibition and absence of any legal framework create a de facto hostile environment for retail crypto activity.

Despite the prohibition, COBAC D-2022/071 requires regulated entities to identify, document, and submit a detailed monthly report to COBAC Secretariat General and BEAC on any cryptocurrency-related transactions detected or rejected, including client identity, amounts, currency, and purpose.