Is crypto legal in Equatorial Guinea? Regulation & rules (2026)

The CEMAC banking supervisor COBAC issued a decision prohibiting banks, microfinance institutions, and payment-service providers operating in all six CEMAC member states — including Equatorial Guinea — from facilitating any cryptocurrency transactions, citing monetary sovereignty and consumer-protection concerns.

On 14 December 2022 COSUMAF (the CEMAC financial markets supervisory commission) published updated Financial Market Regulations that introduce provisions for blockchain technology, ICOs, virtual assets, and VASPs — creating a licensing pathway in principle, but implementation instructions and an approved-VASP register had not been fully operationalised as of early 2026.

At the first CEMAC Fintech Forum (Douala, January 2024), BEAC officials reiterated firm opposition to regulating cryptocurrencies, arguing that crypto purchases convert CFA-franc reserves into foreign currency and thereby weaken the monetary union's reserve base.

IMF Article IV consultations for CEMAC noted clarity and consistency concerns between the July 2022 COSUMAF financial-market regulation (which covers digital assets) and BEAC's mandate plus COBAC's prohibition, leaving the effective legal status of crypto service providers in the zone — including Equatorial Guinea — ambiguous.

Equatorial Guinea enacted Tax Law No. 1/2024 (19 November 2024) to modernise its tax system, but the law contains no explicit provisions on cryptocurrency gains, staking income, or digital-asset reporting; crypto income would notionally fall under general income or capital-gains rules with significant uncertainty.

Cryptocurrency mining by individuals and non-regulated entities is not explicitly prohibited in Equatorial Guinea; no specific licensing or energy-use rules targeting mining have been published by national authorities, though the banking prohibition means miners cannot freely use the regulated financial system.