Self-custodial wallet / non-custodial software in Tanzania

Tanzania has no virtual-asset licensing regime: as at 21 August 2026 there is no VASP licence class, no minimum-capital floor, no application process, no fee schedule, no register and no licensed firm. Tanzanian law does nevertheless define the terms — the Anti-Money Laundering (Amendment) Act, 2022 (Act No. 2 of 2022, assented 23 February 2022, in force 8 March 2022) inserted definitions of "virtual asset" and "virtual asset service provider" into section 3 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, Cap. 423, without attaching any obligation to them. The Bank of Tanzania's public notices of 12 and 29 November 2019, issued under sections 26 and 27 of the Bank of Tanzania Act, 2006 (Act No. 4 of 2006, Cap. 197) and the Foreign Exchange Act, 1992, remain the operative central-bank position, and ESAAMLG rated Tanzania Partially Compliant with Recommendation 15 in its 1st Enhanced Follow-Up Report of September 2022.

Current Stance (Implied): While formal prohibition may not be explicit in specific crypto legislation, the lack of a regulatory framework and the BOT's historical cautious stance on unregulated financial activities mean that operating an unlicensed crypto business could face significant legal uncertainty and potential challenges under existing general financial laws.

Entity Targeted: The general public, financial institutions, and any individuals or entities attempting to deal in, facilitate, or operate businesses involving cryptocurrencies. Violation Type: Dealing in, facilitating, or promoting instruments not recognized as legal tender; operating unauthorized financial services. Penalty Amount: Not a specific fine amount applied in a single action, but the outcome implies potential prosecution under existing financial laws for unauthorized activities.

Cryptocurrencies are not legal tender in Tanzania - section 26 of the Bank of Tanzania Act, Cap. 197 gives the Bank the sole right of issue and makes its notes and coins the only legal tender, and the Bank's notices of 12 and 29 November 2019 restate this - but no Tanzanian instrument prohibits financial institutions from facilitating crypto transactions, and the High Court held in Yellow Card Tanzania Limited v Nyamwero Michael Nyamwero, Commercial Case No. 12171 of 2024 (13 December 2024) that crypto trading is not illegal in Tanzania.

Evidence fact tz.enforcement.bank-of-tanzanias-stance-via not found (may have been renamed).

Tanzania's principal AML statute is the Anti-Money Laundering Act, Cap. 423 (Act No. 12 of 2006, R.E. 2023, commenced 1 July 2007), which imposes obligations on the class of 'reporting person' defined in section 3 paragraphs (a) to (j); the Anti-Money Laundering (Amendment) Act, 2022 (Act No. 2 of 2022, in force 8 March 2022) inserted definitions of 'virtual asset' and 'virtual asset service provider' into section 3 but left virtual asset service providers outside that class, which only a notice published in the Gazette by the Minister under paragraph (j) can extend.

The National Payment Systems Act, 2015 (Act No. 4 of 2015) licenses payment systems under section 7, payment instruments under section 17 and the issuance of electronic money under section 26, and its text contains no reference to virtual assets, cryptocurrency or digital currency. Its definition of electronic money requires "monetary value as represented by a claim on its issuer, that is electronically stored in an instrument or device, issued against receipt of funds of an amount not lesser in value than the monetary value issued" and redeemable in cash, which excludes virtual assets. A Bank of Tanzania payment-system, payment-instrument or electronic-money licence therefore reaches the fiat payment leg only and is not a virtual-asset licence, and the Bank of Tanzania has licensed no virtual-asset service provider under this or any other statute.

Tanzania has no crypto-custodian licence and no virtual-asset service provider authorisation of any kind: the Bank of Tanzania Act, Cap. 197 creates no such category, the Bank of Tanzania's published Regulations and Guidelines registers carry no virtual-asset instrument, and the Capital Markets and Securities Authority has issued no crypto circular, so a crypto custodian in Tanzania is unlicensed and unsupervised rather than caught by general financial-service rules.