Stablecoin issuer / redeemer in Cote d'Ivoire

There is no BCEAO licence category for virtual-asset service providers. BCEAO agrément as an établissement de monnaie électronique (Instruction n°008-05-2015 du 21 mai 2015, art. 8; minimum capital 300,000,000 FCFA, art. 11) or as a payment institution (Instruction n°001-01-2024 du 23 janvier 2024) is required only where the firm actually issues e-money or provides payment services; neither instrument mentions crypto-actifs or actifs virtuels. A crypto exchange as such cannot obtain, and is not required to hold, either licence.

Règlement n° 06/2024/CM/UEMOA is real (signed at Bamako on 20 December 2024, relatif aux relations financières extérieures des Etats membres de l'UEMOA, applied from 1 August 2025 through 15 BCEAO instructions n°01 to 15/07/2025/RFE), but it is a foreign-exchange/external-settlements instrument and contains no rules on actifs virtuels or crypto-actifs. It does not create any virtual-asset framework. The only virtual-asset rule binding in Côte d'Ivoire is the AML/CFT layer: the UMOA uniform law of 31 March 2023, transposed nationally by Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023, which defines 'actif virtuel' (art. 2, 2°) and 'prestataire de services d'actifs virtuels' (art. 2, 51°) and makes PSAV assujettis (art. 3, c). No competent authority has been designated, so no licensing regime is operational.

BCEAO's Cautious Stance: The BCEAO has historically adopted a cautious, and at times prohibitive, stance towards cryptocurrencies due to concerns about monetary stability, consumer protection, money laundering, and illicit financing. They have issued warnings to financial institutions and the public about the risks associated with cryptocurrencies.

No 'Directive n° 03/2018/CM/UEMOA on the harmonisation of payment services regulation' could be located in any BCEAO or UEMOA source; the BCEAO compendium chapter on payment systems and instruments lists no 2018 directive (its instruments are Règlement n°15/2002/CM/UEMOA, Directive n°08/2002/CM/UEMOA, Instruction n°01/2003/SP, Instruction n°008-05-2015 and related texts). Payment-institution regulation in the UMOA is set by Instruction n°001-01-2024 du 23 janvier 2024.

No 'Instruction n° 002/2019/RB/UEMOA' exists; the citation format ('/RB/UEMOA') is not BCEAO's, which numbers instructions n°00X-MM-YYYY. Approval of e-money issuers is governed by Instruction n°008-05-2015 du 21 mai 2015 (art. 8 agrément préalable, art. 11 capital 300 million FCFA) and of payment institutions by Instruction n°001-01-2024 du 23 janvier 2024.

Capital requirements (significant).

High capital requirements.

Local presence and management.

Segregation of client funds.

Robust AML/KYC policies and procedures.

Strong internal controls and audit.

It is correct that no crypto-specific licensing path is available in practice, but wrong that there is 'no specific regulation'. Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023 (Côte d'Ivoire's transposition of the UMOA loi uniforme LBC/FT/FP du 31 mars 2023, and the first UEMOA transposition) defines 'actif virtuel' at art. 2(2) and 'prestataire de services d'actifs virtuels' at art. 2(51) — expressly covering fiat/virtual-asset exchange, virtual-to-virtual exchange and transfer — and art. 3(c) makes PSAV assujettis. Art. 58 of the uniform law provides: 'Nul ne peut se livrer à l'activité professionnelle de prestataire de services d'actifs virtuels s'il n'a pas obtenu l'agrément ou l'autorisation préalable de l'autorité compétente.' No competent authority has been designated, so the prohibition on unlicensed activity binds while no agrément is obtainable. Also, PSAV are NOT 'viewed as a financial service': the law defines 'institutions financières' separately from PSAV.

Côte d'Ivoire is not a FATF member; it is a GIABA member and is assessed by GIABA. Its second-round mutual evaluation was conducted by GIABA (on-site visit 6-24 June 2022, MER adopted 2023), not by an IMF-led team, and has been followed by three enhanced follow-up reports (2024, 2025, 2026). Côte d'Ivoire was under FATF increased monitoring during 2025 — it is on the EU high-risk third-country list from 5 August 2025 (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1184), which mirrors the FATF grey list, and it was not among the countries de-listed at the October 2025 plenary (Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa). No evidence was found that its FATF action plan includes VASP regulation; the UEMOA-level VASP framework is still only in drafting (BCEAO C-CRYPTO committee, May 2026).

A widely cited stance, though not a specific custody rule, is their consistent warning against crypto:

The substance is correct — crypto-assets are not legal tender in UEMOA, are not issued or regulated by the BCEAO, and the BCEAO has publicly urged caution (Governor Kassi Brou, 2026: 'Ce n'est pas une monnaie. Ce n'est pas réglementé. Donc soyez prudents.'). But the passage in quotation marks is not an actual BCEAO text; the record itself concedes it is a synthesis ('This general statement reflects numerous communiqués over the years'), so it must not be cited as a quotation. It is also now incomplete: since May 2026 the BCEAO has been actively drafting a UMOA crypto framework through the C-CRYPTO committee.

Evidence fact ci.custody.bceao-cautious-stance-the-bceao not found (may have been renamed).

Segregation of Client Assets Rules:

The BCEAO's regulatory framework does not include specific rules for the segregation of cryptocurrency assets. While BCEAO regulations mandate segregation for fiduciaires in the traditional financial system (e.g., for securities maintained by investment service providers), these regulations explicitly exclude digital assets not recognized as financial instruments. Entities holding crypto assets may still be subject to general consumer protection or business contract laws at the national level in Côte d'Ivoire, but no specific segregation mandate from the BCEAO exists.

Evidence fact ci.custody.qualified-custodian-definitions not found (may have been renamed).

No specific definition for crypto assets. The concept of a "qualified custodian" as defined in jurisdictions like the US (e.g., under the Advisers Act) does not exist for digital assets in Cote d'Ivoire, as there's no framework to define or regulate such entities.

Evidence fact ci.custody.cold-storage-mandates not found (may have been renamed).

The BCEAO has not issued any specific mandates for cold storage or any other method of storing digital assets. This reflects the broader absence of a regulated crypto custody framework. In contrast, traditional financial institutions are subject to BCEAO prudential rules for the safekeeping of physical assets (e.g., cash in vaults, securities held by depositories), but no equivalent exists for unregulated digital assets.

The BCEAO has not issued any mandates requiring insurance or bonding for digital asset custodians. This is consistent with the broader lack of regulation for crypto assets. However, entities that also operate as traditional financial institutions may be subject to existing insurance/bonding requirements for their licensed activities (e.g., operational risk insurance for banks), but these do not specifically cover crypto custody. The absence of such protections increases risk for users in the event of loss, theft, or custodian insolvency.

No Ivorian AML/CFT instrument numbered 'Ordonnance n° 2019-1089 du 18 décembre 2019' or 'Loi n° 2014-393 du 20 juin 2014' exists. Côte d'Ivoire's AML/CFT statutory chain is: Loi n° 2005-554 du 2 décembre 2005 → Loi n° 2016-992 du 14 novembre 2016 relative à la lutte contre le blanchiment des capitaux et le financement du terrorisme → Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023 relative à la lutte contre le blanchiment de capitaux, le financement du terrorisme et de la prolifération des armes de destruction massive, which is Côte d'Ivoire's transposition of the UMOA Loi uniforme LBC/FT/FP du 31 mars 2023.

Evidence fact ci.aml.identification-and-verification-of-identity not found (may have been renamed).

Correct in substance but imprecise on the threshold: Ordonnance n° 2023-875, art. 2(12), defines the bénéficiaire effectif as the natural person who ultimately owns or controls the client, and for companies as a person holding, directly or indirectly, 'plus de vingt-cinq pour cent du capital' — i.e. *more than* 25%, not '25% or more'. Côte d'Ivoire additionally created a beneficial-ownership register by Loi n° 2024-362 du 11 juin 2024, with access rules set by Décret n° 2024-583 du 26 juin 2024.

Ongoing Monitoring: Conducting ongoing due diligence on the business relationship and scrutinizing transactions undertaken throughout the course of that relationship to ensure that the transactions are consistent with the obliged entity's knowledge of the customer, their business, and risk profile.

Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD): Applying EDD measures in higher-risk situations, including:

Obligation to Report: Obliged entities must report any transaction (or attempted transaction) that they suspect is linked to money laundering or terrorist financing to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

Reports are made to the CENTIF (CENTIF-CI), not to 'CELLIF'. The body's name is the Cellule Nationale de Traitement des Informations Financières de Côte d'Ivoire, acronym CENTIF-CI; 'CELLIF' does not exist in Ivorian or UEMOA law or practice.

No Tipping-Off: Obliged entities and their employees are prohibited from disclosing to the customer or to third parties that an STR has been filed or that an investigation is underway.

All customer identification data (e.g., copies of identification documents).

Account files and business correspondence.

The 2002 UEMOA anti-money-laundering instrument no longer forms part of the applicable framework. The regional chain now runs: Directive n° 04/2007/CM/UEMOA du 4 juillet 2007 (financement du terrorisme) → Directive n° 02/2015/CM/UEMOA du 2 juillet 2015 → Loi uniforme LBC/FT/FP adoptée par le Conseil des Ministres de l'UMOA le 31 mars 2023, complétée par la Décision n° 021/CM/UMOA du 21 décembre 2023 et la Décision n° 003/CM/UMOA du 28 mars 2024 (seuils) et les Instructions BCEAO n° 001-03-2025 à 003-03-2025 du 18 mars 2025. In Côte d'Ivoire the applicable text is Ordonnance n° 2023-875 du 23 novembre 2023.

The substance is right — crypto-assets are not legal tender in the UEMOA, are not regulated by the BCEAO, and no operational VASP licensing regime exists; and the absence of a bespoke regime does not displace AML/CFT obligations (Ordonnance n° 2023-875, art. 3, makes PSAV assujettis outright). Two corrections: (i) the three communiqué dates (12 December 2013, 5 December 2017, 22 May 2018) could not be verified — the BCEAO's current avis et mises en garde index shows no crypto warnings at those dates; (ii) 'no formal licensing regime' overstates the position — art. 58 of the uniform law as transposed does prohibit carrying on PSAV activity without prior agrément or authorisation, but art. 59 defers all PSAV-specific requirements to a competent authority that no UEMOA state, including Côte d'Ivoire, has designated, so the requirement exists on paper and is inoperative. The BCEAO created its C-CRYPTO drafting committee in May 2026 and held a Dakar conference on 8 May 2026; Governor Kassi Brou (July 2026): 'Ce n'est pas une monnaie. Ce n'est pas réglementé.'

No specific legislation: As of the latest information, Côte d'Ivoire has not enacted specific laws or regulations solely dedicated to the taxation of cryptocurrencies or virtual assets.

All tax matters related to cryptocurrencies are therefore subject to interpretation under the Code Général des Impôts (CGI), whose provisions are continuously evolving due to regular updates, including annual finance laws and new editions for years like 2025 and 2026, covering income tax, corporate tax, VAT, and other duties.