Crypto & Digital Assets · Myanmar
Is crypto legal in Myanmar? Regulation & rules (2026)
Myanmar shaded by its crypto & digital assets status
Myanmar's Central Bank (CBM) has prohibited all cryptocurrency transactions since May 2019, reaffirmed by Directive 9/2020, and renewed emphatically in November 2025. No licensing framework exists for exchanges, VASPs, custody, or token offerings; enforcement is carried out under the AML Law and Financial Institutions Law with penalties including bank-account closure and imprisonment. Simultaneously, the CBM established a CBDC committee in June 2025 to develop a state digital currency, while a proposed Anti-Online Fraud Bill (May 2026) would introduce sentences of up to life imprisonment for crypto fraud.
Key points
The CBM declared all crypto transactions—buying, selling, trading, and transferring—illegal via a May 2019 state-media announcement and Directive 9/2020. No financial institution is authorised to deal in digital currencies, and no licences will be issued.
On 16 November 2025, the CBM reiterated its prohibition on trading, transferring, storing, and hoarding crypto assets, citing price volatility, hacking risk, and links to money laundering, drug trafficking, and human trafficking.
The CBM closed over 200 bank accounts linked to crypto transactions within a single week in 2024. Violators face prosecution under the Anti-Money Laundering Law and the Financial Institutions Law, with penalties ranging from fines to multi-year imprisonment.
A draft bill unveiled 15 May 2026 and due for parliamentary consideration in June 2026 would impose 10 years to life imprisonment for 'digital currency fraud,' and the death penalty for coercing victims into scam operations—among the harshest crypto-related penalties globally.
On 24 June 2025 the CBM established a Central Committee for the Issuance of a Central Bank Digital Currency (digital kyat), tasked with researching CBDC models and testing secure digital payment systems—framed explicitly as the state-controlled alternative to private crypto.
The internationally recognised opposition National Unity Government declared Tether (USDT) an official currency in December 2021 for fundraising purposes—directly opposing the junta's prohibition. However, the NUG controls no territory within Myanmar, limiting practical effect.
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