- The legislation’s goal is to establish guidelines for the licensing and oversight of VASPs.
- The country’s authorized crypto regulator will soon be able to issue licenses to businesses.
After passing a virtual assets bill into law on Friday, the Namibian government plans to create a regulatory body to monitor the sector. To better regulate and oversee virtual asset service providers and associated activities, the government of Namibia has enacted the Namibia Virtual Assets Act 2023.
The National Assembly just enacted the country’s first law regulating cryptocurrency. The legislation’s stated goal is to establish guidelines for the licensing and oversight of VASPs.
Curbing Multiple Unlawful Activities
In order to prevent unlawful activities like money laundering, terrorism financing, and proliferation from taking place in the digital asset market, it is crucial to provide consumer protection, put an end to market abuse, and limit the scope of illicit activity. Secondary issues that develop from these fundamental ones are covered by the law as well.
Moreover, a punishment of up to 10M Namibian dollars ($671,572) and ten years in prison has reportedly been imposed. This is against service providers that refuse to comply as per local media reports.
On Friday, it was published in the official government publication of the Republic of Namibia, making it a law. “Not yet effective,” though, according to Diana Vivo, an associate at Ellis Shilengudwa Incorporated, a division of DLA Piper Africa.
As Ellis put it:
The country’s authorized crypto regulator will soon be able to issue licenses to businesses that offer services related to virtual assets. Also, it can pass new legislation if needed. In addition, the central bank of Namibia revealed intentions to build a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in April.