Rwanda Warns About Crypto Supply On Baybit FRW
The National Bank of Rwanda (NBR) on Friday warned the public that crypto payments and transactions are illegal in the country after adding support for a peer-to-peer platform for the Rwandan franc.
“Crypto-assets are not permitted for payments, FRW conversion or P2P trading involving FRW under the current framework,” the central bank said in a post on Sunday on X, urging citizens not to enter crypto due to “severe financial risks and no recourse to bankruptcy.”
The central bank's comment was in response to an ex-post from Baybit on Friday, which stated that the Rwandan franc (FRW) can be used to buy and sell crypto through Baybit's P2P service.
In a separate X post, the NBR said FRW “is the only legal tender in Rwanda” and that “NBR-licensed financial institutions are prohibited from converting FRW into crypto-assets or vice versa.”
Cointelegraph reached out to Bibit for comment and did not receive an immediate response.
Rwanda is trying to strengthen the FRW in the country with the central bank's digital currency, E-Franc Rwanda, which is currently in the proof-of-concept stage and may progress to the pilot stage.
Rwanda is one of the many countries that have pushed back against crypto services since 2018 to maintain monetary sovereignty and exert more control over their financial system.
Income crypto regulation seeks to further limit crypto
However, in March Rwanda's Capital Markets Authority issued a draft framework to regulate virtual asset service providers, a move that encourages “responsible innovation”.
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The bill, which is making its way through the Rwandan legislature, seeks to ban crypto as legal tender while banning crypto mining, mixing services and tokens with FRW.
It also seeks to provide a way for crypto service providers to operate under license and regulation.
According to data from blockchain analytics firm Chinalysis, Rwanda will be at a low level of crypto adoption in 2024 and 2025, with locals receiving less of the crypto value seen in high-adoption African countries such as Nigeria and South Africa.
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