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

No PNG statute explicitly bans cryptocurrency; the BPNG does not issue or regulate virtual currencies and has not granted them legal-tender status, leaving private crypto use in an unaddressed gray area. The BPNG issued a public risk warning in July 2018.

The FATF/APG 2024 Mutual Evaluation Report found significant deficiencies in PNG's AML/CFT framework, including weak risk-based supervision of financial entities and virtual assets; PNG's FATF action plan requires it to develop VASP oversight and demonstrate increased ML/TF enforcement. PNG remained on the FATF increased-monitoring list as of February 2026.

The BPNG, partnering with Japan's Soramitsu and Mitsubishi under Japanese government support, completed a Digital Kina CBDC proof of concept in January 2025, demonstrating real-time retail payments and cross-border remittances on Hyperledger Iroha 2; a broader rollout is contingent on addressing identified legal and regulatory gaps.

Parliament's 2015 securities-law reform created the SCPNG and the Capital Market Act 2015, which lists crypto assets among covered tradeable instruments; however, the SCPNG has issued no secondary rules, licensing requirements, or prospectus obligations specific to digital assets or token issuers.

The SCPNG has focused publicly on warning investors against unregistered entities, fake cryptocurrency platforms, and Ponzi schemes; it has not announced enforcement actions against licensed exchanges because no exchange licensing regime exists at the national level.

PNG's new Income Tax Act 2025, operative from 1 January 2026, introduces a 15% capital-gains tax on disposal of 'taxable assets' with initial focus on extractive-industry assets; crypto assets are not explicitly included or excluded and the Internal Revenue Commission has issued no specific guidance on cryptocurrency taxation.