Crypto Overview in Myanmar

Regulatory data is for informational purposes only and may not reflect the most current legal developments. Always consult qualified professionals before making decisions.

Legal Classification and Regulatory Framework

Cryptocurrency Status

Cryptocurrency is prohibited for residents of Myanmar. The Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) issued Notification No. 9/2020 on 15 May 2020, prohibiting the sale, purchase, exchange, transfer, or holding of unregulated digital currencies, including Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, and Tether. The notification cites sections 40(e) and 62 of the Central Bank of Myanmar Law, which establish the CBM as the sole authority for currency issuance. A preceding state-media warning had been published in May 2019, but the 2020 directive formalized the outright ban. The CBM renewed the warning publicly in May 2024, citing the growing use of cryptocurrency in illicit activities including drug trafficking, arms smuggling, human trafficking, and online fraud.

Only the Myanmar kyat (MMK) is recognised as legal tender. There is no statutory framework classifying digital assets as property, commodities, or securities, because the underlying activity is prohibited rather than regulated. Violations carry criminal penalties under the Anti-Money Laundering Law 2014 and the Financial Institutions Law, with imprisonment of up to five years and fines possible. In 2024, the CBM closed more than two hundred bank accounts linked to digital-currency activity in a single week, and those arrested for crypto transactions have faced prosecution.

In parallel with the prohibition of private cryptocurrencies, the CBM announced on 24 June 2025 the formation of a Central Committee for the Issuance of Central Bank Digital Currency, chaired by the CBM Governor, to research a potential state-issued digital kyat. The state position is therefore to prohibit private digital currencies while preparing a sovereign alternative.

Tax Treatment

Myanmar has no dedicated tax regime for cryptocurrency. Under the 2025 Union Taxation Law, effective 1 April 2025, the general capital gains tax rate is 10 percent, corporate income tax is 22 percent for unlisted companies and 17 percent for companies listed on the Yangon Stock Exchange, and personal income tax follows a progressive scale from 0 to 25 percent. The Internal Revenue Department has issued no guidance on how crypto gains, mining rewards, or staking income should be reported. Because the underlying activity is illegal, any gains realised through informal channels fall outside the formal reporting system. There are no recognised allowances or holding-period benefits for crypto assets.

Regulatory Oversight

Three bodies are relevant to the crypto prohibition. The Central Bank of Myanmar is the primary regulator and the source of the ban. The Myanmar Financial Intelligence Unit (FID), operating under the Anti-Money Laundering Law 2014, investigates illicit financial flows, including those linked to digital assets. The Ministry of Planning and Finance administers tax policy but has issued no crypto-specific engagement. No virtual asset service provider regime exists, and no financial institution is authorised to deal in cryptocurrency. Since the February 2021 military coup, all these institutions operate under the authority of the State Administration Council (SAC), the ruling military body.

Business Environment

Banking Relationships

Banking access for any business connected to cryptocurrency is effectively closed. The CBM has instructed financial institutions to freeze or close accounts associated with digital-currency activity, and enforcement intensified visibly in 2024. The kyat has lost a large share of its value since the 2021 coup, capital controls are strict, and Myanmar’s correspondent banking access is further constrained by its FATF blacklist status and by Western sanctions on the military authorities. As a result, value movement relies heavily on informal hundi networks and stablecoin rails operated through over-the-counter channels outside the regulated system.

The post-coup political environment makes formal business registration in the cryptocurrency sector impossible. The SAC controls all central institutions including the CBM and commercial banking licences. Myanmar’s listing on the FATF blacklist since October 2022 has amplified due diligence burdens on all Myanmar-related transactions globally, causing many international banks to de-risk the jurisdiction entirely.

Innovation Support

State-level support for blockchain or fintech innovation is limited to the CBDC research announced in June 2025. There is no fintech sandbox, no regulator-led pilot programme for digital assets, and no public blockchain strategy. The parallel National Unity Government (NUG) has launched its own financial tools, including a digital Myanmar kyat hosted on a public blockchain, a US-dollar-pegged sibling token, and a gold-backed savings product, delivered through a mobile application designed to function during internet disruptions. The NUG also recognised Tether (USDT) as an official currency for its controlled areas in December 2021, and raised approximately USD 9.5 million in 24 hours through its Spring Revolution Special Treasury Bonds. These initiatives operate entirely outside the SAC regulatory perimeter and are treated as unlawful by the central authorities.

Crypto License in Myanmar

No cryptocurrency licence exists in Myanmar. The country operates under a total prohibition model, with no pathway for domestic or foreign firms to obtain authorisation as a virtual asset service provider, exchange, custodian, or brokerage. The Central Bank of Myanmar has repeatedly confirmed that no financial institution has been granted permission to deal in cryptocurrency, and the legislative architecture contains no mechanism to create such a licence under the current regime.

Current Status

CBM Notification No. 9/2020 remains the operative instrument. It has been reaffirmed through enforcement actions in 2024. No amendment, regulatory sandbox carve-out, or pilot programme has been announced that would permit any crypto-related commercial activity. The June 2025 CBDC committee focuses exclusively on a state-issued digital kyat; its formation does not alter the prohibition on private cryptocurrencies. In the ASEAN context, Myanmar is the most restrictive jurisdiction for digital assets, in contrast to Thailand and Singapore, both of which operate licensed VASP regimes.

Why No Framework

Three factors reinforce the prohibition and make a licensing framework unlikely in the near term. First, the SAC government lacks the international legitimacy and institutional capacity to design or implement a regulatory framework consistent with FATF standards. Second, Myanmar has been on the FATF blacklist since October 2022, one of only three countries in that category alongside Iran and the DPRK. The FATF blacklisting means any liberalisation of crypto rules would face immediate international scrutiny. Third, border-region scam compounds, which rely heavily on cryptocurrency for money laundering and victim payment, have drawn direct US Treasury and UK government sanctions against Myanmar-linked entities, making crypto-friendly policy politically untenable for the authorities.

What Operators Should Know

Any business engaging Myanmar residents in cryptocurrency services is exposed to criminal liability under the Anti-Money Laundering Law 2014 and the Central Bank of Myanmar Law. Foreign platforms serving Myanmar users without CBM authorisation, which cannot lawfully be obtained, risk asset freezes and account closures. Correspondent banks and payment processors apply enhanced due diligence to all Myanmar-related flows under FATF requirements, making fiat on-ramps and off-ramps difficult regardless of jurisdiction of incorporation. Sanctions risk is material: the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 19 entities and individuals connected to Myanmar-linked scam compounds in September 2025, and further UK and US coordinated sanctions followed in October 2025. Any counterparty with links to Myanmar border-area payments infrastructure carries elevated sanctions exposure.

Market Characteristics

Adoption Patterns

Retail interest persists despite the ban. Citizens transact through peer-to-peer channels organised on social messaging platforms, with Tether on the Tron network the dominant instrument because of low fees and a dollar peg that hedges against kyat depreciation. Access to offshore exchanges is typically achieved through virtual private networks. Diaspora workers in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and further afield increasingly use stablecoins to remit funds home, bypassing the formal banking system. The NUG-linked digital-kyat ecosystem has attracted on-chain volume from supporters funding resistance activities, though figures from any informal network should be read as directional rather than authoritative.

Industry Focus: Scam Compounds

The most significant cryptocurrency-related industry in Myanmar is not a legitimate one. Industrial-scale online fraud operations, commonly called pig-butchering or sha zhu pan scams, operate from fortified compounds along the Thai border, primarily in Karen State near Myawaddy. Locations including KK Park and Shwe Kokko, protected by the Karen National Army (KNA), house tens of thousands of trafficked workers forced to run cryptocurrency investment fraud, romance scams, and money-laundering operations targeting victims globally. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that regional scam operations generate approximately USD 40 billion per year, with an estimated 120,000 people held in forced labour conditions across Myanmar alone.

In September 2025, the US OFAC sanctioned 19 entities and individuals tied to the Shwe Kokko compounds, including KNA leader Saw Chit Thu and his sons, and corporate fronts including Chit Linn Myaing Co. and Myanmar Yatai International Holding Group Co. In October 2025, the UK and US governments coordinated additional sanctions. SpaceX simultaneously cut off more than 2,500 Starlink terminals identified as serving scam operations in Myanmar. In October 2025, Myanmar’s military conducted a raid on KK Park, demolishing over 600 buildings and releasing approximately 2,000 workers, declaring a zero-tolerance policy for cyberscams. Analysts noted that around 30 compounds remain active, and that the criminal syndicates behind the operations had not been dismantled.

A separate legislative development reported in 2025 described a proposed bill that would impose the death penalty for scam coercion and life imprisonment for crypto fraud offences. The proposal reflects pressure from China and the United States, both of which have pushed the SAC to act. These sanctions actions and enforcement pressures shape how international counterparties assess all cryptocurrency flows associated with Myanmar.

Regulatory Evolution

Myanmar has remained on the FATF list of high-risk jurisdictions subject to a call for action since October 2022. As of May 2026, Myanmar faces enhanced due diligence requirements, a level below the full countermeasures applied to Iran and the DPRK. The FATF October 2025 plenary warned that if no meaningful progress were achieved by February 2026, countermeasures would be considered. The February 2026 plenary extended that deadline to June 2026. The FATF has explicitly noted the importance of preserving humanitarian and remittance channels despite the listing. Myanmar’s key action items include demonstrating enhanced use of financial intelligence in law enforcement, investigating and prosecuting money laundering in line with risk, and increasing the freezing and confiscation of criminal proceeds. Progress on all items has been limited since 2022.

A normalisation of the cryptocurrency policy environment is unlikely while the FATF blacklisting, surrounding Western sanctions, and the absence of a recognised civilian government persist. The June 2026 FATF deadline and the ongoing international pressure related to scam compounds are the most significant near-term variables for Myanmar’s standing in the global financial system.