Crypto Overview in Saudi Arabia

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

Saudi Arabia occupies a distinctive position in the global crypto landscape: a G20 economy with deep capital pools, an ambitious technology agenda under Vision 2030, and one of the world’s fastest-growing crypto user bases, yet without any domestic licensing regime for virtual asset service providers. The Kingdom’s posture is best described as cautious but actively preparing. A comprehensive framework being developed jointly by the Saudi Central Bank and the Capital Market Authority has seen substantial movement on stablecoins, tokenization, and central bank digital currency through 2024 and into 2026.

Legal Classification and Regulatory Framework

Cryptocurrency Status

Cryptocurrencies are not legal tender in Saudi Arabia, where the Saudi riyal is the sole sovereign money. The most recent binding policy stance comes from the Standing Committee for Awareness on Dealing in Unauthorized Securities, a joint body bringing together SAMA, the CMA, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Commerce. The committee has stated that virtual currency trading is not authorized within the Kingdom and that no licensed dealers operate domestically. Individuals are not specifically criminalized for holding crypto through offshore platforms, but no domestic on-ramp is licensed, and banks are prohibited from engaging in crypto transactions without explicit SAMA approval. Tokenized securities and offerings that resemble traditional capital markets instruments fall within the existing securities perimeter administered by the CMA.

Tax Treatment

Saudi Arabia has no personal income tax and no capital gains tax on personal investment activity by residents. Muslim individuals are subject to Zakat at 2.5% on net zakatable wealth above the nisab threshold; crypto held as a zakatable asset is generally included. Saudi and Gulf Cooperation Council owned businesses pay Zakat at 2.5% on their capital base. Foreign-owned companies are subject to corporate income tax at 20%, with an effective 15% rate on gains where crypto is held as a business asset. Value added tax of 15% applies to crypto service fees such as exchange commissions, though pure peer-to-peer transfers between wallets are not VAT events. There is no dedicated crypto return: activity is folded into Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) filings and the Fatoora electronic invoicing platform where applicable.

Regulatory Oversight

SAMA supervises banks, payment service providers, the regulatory sandbox, and digital currency initiatives, and in July 2024 appointed Mohsen Al-Zahrani as its dedicated head of virtual assets and CBDC, signalling a more structured policy track. The CMA supervises securities and tokenized offerings and operates a FinTech Lab through experimental permits of up to two years. ZATCA handles tax enforcement, and the Communications, Space and Technology Commission has been tasked with future blockchain platform rules. In April 2026, Saudi Arabia approved substantial amendments to its AML Law (Council of Ministers Decision No. 748 and Royal Decree No. D/223), introducing stricter enforcement measures, enhanced confiscation powers, and expanded travel restrictions for offenders.

Business Environment

Banking Relationships

Banks and licensed payment service providers cannot deal in virtual currencies without explicit SAMA approval, and in practice retail fiat on-ramps and off-ramps do not operate domestically. The Kingdom has nonetheless built a strong digital banking foundation, with three licensed digital banks and well-developed digital payments infrastructure under the SARIE interbank system and national fast-payments rails. Future crypto operators are expected to integrate with these rails once a licensing framework is in place. With 79% of retail transactions already cashless as of 2025, the infrastructure to support regulated digital asset settlement is largely in place.

Innovation Support

Innovation support is a major strength of Saudi Arabia’s approach. SAMA has operated a regulatory sandbox since 2018, with cohorts admitting new fintech models each year under strict CDD, STR filing, and digital identity requirements. The CMA FinTech Lab issues experimental permits for up to two years and has supported SAR 3.4 billion in tokenized sukuk issuance in 2024, up from SAR 1.5 billion in 2023, across 17 active permits. Fintech Saudi, a joint promotion body, reported more than 200 licensed fintech firms in 2024, with a target above 500 by 2030. NEOM and Vision 2030 have driven memoranda of understanding with major Web3 infrastructure firms, and in January 2026, Open World launched Saudi Arabia’s first real-world asset tokenization Center of Excellence aligned with Vision 2030 digital economy goals.

Crypto License in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia does not currently operate a standalone licensing regime for virtual asset service providers. The absence of such a framework is not regulatory flexibility: it means that exchanges, custodians, brokers, and stablecoin issuers have no legal pathway to obtain a Saudi VASP license. Activity sits in an unauthorized grey zone, accessed primarily through international platforms and offshore counterparties. However, the Kingdom is actively building toward formal authorization pathways under a joint SAMA-CMA design process, with a stablecoin framework announced at the governmental level in November 2025.

Current Status

No virtual asset service provider licensing regime has been published as of mid-2026. A joint Standing Committee warning from SAMA, the CMA, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Commerce remains in effect, stating that virtual currency trading is not authorized domestically. Sandbox graduates hold limited, time-bound experimental permits from SAMA or the CMA for specific use cases such as tokenized sukuk, digital payments pilots, or blockchain-based identity; these do not constitute general VASP licenses. Real estate tokenization operates under joint supervision by the General Real Estate Authority (REGA) and the CMA, representing the most advanced form of regulated crypto-adjacent activity currently permitted on Saudi soil. In November 2025, Minister Majed Al-Hogail announced that the government is developing a nationally regulated stablecoin in partnership with SAMA and the CMA, representing the first official governmental commitment to a domestic digital asset product. The policy framework covering reserve backing, licensing conditions, and consumer protection has not yet been published.

Why No Framework

Saudi Arabia’s delay in publishing a VASP framework reflects several structural factors. The Kingdom must navigate Shariah compliance requirements: any digital asset product must be certified compliant with Islamic finance principles, which rules out algorithmic models and requires careful design of reserve structures. The regulator also prefers a sandbox-first, risk-controlled approach: the SAMA and CMA sandboxes are the testing ground for models that may eventually graduate to licensed status, and both bodies have explicitly stated they want to observe and calibrate before opening the market. A further consideration is jurisdictional architecture: determining whether a given digital asset is a payment instrument (SAMA’s perimeter) or a security (CMA’s perimeter) requires unprecedented inter-agency coordination. Finally, the broad ambition of Vision 2030 financial sector development means the forthcoming framework is expected to cover stablecoins, tokenized securities, and wholesale CBDC in an integrated way rather than issuing piecemeal crypto-only rules.

What Operators Should Know

International platforms serving Saudi users should be aware that no licensing pathway exists domestically and that fiat on-ramp and off-ramp activity through Saudi banks requires explicit SAMA approval that has not been granted to any crypto operator to date. Any future framework is expected to require full customer due diligence aligned with SAMA’s AML/CTF rules, Suspicious Transaction Report filing with SAFIU, integration with Saudi digital identity infrastructure, and Shariah certification for any retail product. The FATF Travel Rule has not been formally extended to VASPs in the Kingdom as yet, but the April 2026 AML Law amendments tighten the broader compliance environment and are expected to inform the VASP framework once published. Operators considering sandbox applications should approach SAMA for payment-oriented use cases and the CMA for securities or tokenized-asset use cases.

Market Characteristics

Adoption Patterns

Regional data places the Middle East and North Africa among the largest crypto markets globally by on-chain value, with Saudi Arabia ranking as one of the fastest-growing economies in the region. Stablecoins and decentralized exchange volumes form a higher share of Saudi flow than the global average, reflecting both interest in dollar-denominated digital assets and the absence of regulated domestic centralized venues. Institutional-sized transactions account for the bulk of value, consistent with an investor base anchored by sovereign wealth, family offices, and global asset managers establishing a Riyadh presence. The government’s own November 2025 stablecoin announcement cited the SAR 300 billion real estate funds market as a primary use case, indicating that high-value asset settlement is the near-term target application rather than retail trading.

Industry Focus

Public Investment Fund affiliates and Saudi Aramco have made selective blockchain investments and signed digital asset cooperation memoranda. The broader strategic emphasis is on tokenization of real-world assets including real estate, sukuk, and energy infrastructure for NEOM, and on partnerships in Web3 and gaming. Direct crypto trading services are not yet a domestic industry, but adjacent sectors such as blockchain consulting, custody technology, tokenization platforms, and stablecoin payments infrastructure are actively positioning for an anticipated framework release. Global exchanges including Bybit and BingX publicly backed Saudi Arabia’s stablecoin and digital asset ambitions at the November 2025 World PropTech Summit, signalling industry intent to enter the market once a regulatory path opens.

Regulatory Evolution

Saudi Arabia joined FATF in June 2019 as the first Arab country and 37th member globally, and is a founding member of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF, established November 2004). The AML regime operates under the Anti-Money Laundering Law (Royal Decree No. M/20 of 2017) and its Counter-Terrorism Financing companion statute; SAMA’s AML/CTF rules and the SAMA Rulebook bind financial institutions. As of the 2024 FATF assessment, Saudi Arabia was compliant with 17 FATF Recommendations and largely compliant with 21 others. The April 2026 amendments to the AML Law (Council of Ministers Decision No. 748, Royal Decree No. D/223) introduced stricter confiscation powers, enhanced travel restrictions for offenders, and tightened obligations on DNFBPs. SAMA joined Project mBridge as a full participant in 2024 following the successful conclusion of Project Aber, the 2019-2020 bilateral CBDC proof of concept with the UAE Central Bank. A wholesale digital riyal pilot is in progress. The trajectory through 2026 is clearly toward formal authorization pathways, but the binding framework text has not yet been published.