Mozambique#
Mozambique has no comprehensive crypto-asset licensing statute or dedicated VASP framework. The Bank of Mozambique's (BM) foreign exchange licensing regime treats real-time trading of cryptocurrencies on foreign-domiciled virtual platforms as unauthorized and at the trader's own risk, while explicitly stating that domestic promotion/intermediation of such activity via Mozambique-registered domains does not itself trigger a BM authorization requirement. No crypto-specific registration, licensing, or exemption category exists.
As of mid-2026, no crypto exchanges operating in or targeting Mozambique have been publicly confirmed as licensed or registered under this regime. This negative finding is assessed-confidence and sourced from commercial-advisory commentary (T4) rather than the official state register, meaning the actual registration uptake among market participants remains unverified rather than affirmatively zero. Banco de Moçambique's supervisory posture is therefore best characterised as amber: a functioning legal basis for oversight exists, but there is no visible evidence of it having been operationalised against named market participants.
Outlook
Watch for direct retrieval of Banco de Moçambique's official VASP register or the primary Aviso n.º 4/GBM/2023 text, either of which would resolve whether any entities have completed registration to date, and for any enforcement or public-facing update to the regime's registration-only structure.
Crypto Licensing
Banco de Moçambique's Aviso n.º 4/GBM/2023, de 14 de Setembro requires providers of virtual-asset services to register with the central bank. This was confirmed via the Bank's own normativos listing page, which carries the instrument's title: 'Requisitos para o Registo de Prestadores de Serviços de Activos Virtuais' (Requirements for the Registration of Virtual Asset Service Providers). The confirmation of this instrument's existence corrects a prior caution flag suggesting no virtual-asset-service-provider framework existed in Mozambique; the accurate position is that a registration gateway does exist, administered by Banco de Moçambique, though it is a registration regime rather than a full licensing regime.
The substantive content of the Aviso — including any minimum capital requirement, ownership restriction, fit-and-proper test, or ongoing reporting obligation attaching to registered virtual-asset-service providers — was not independently retrieved this period; only the instrument's title and existence were confirmed via the regulator's own site. This leaves a material gap between what is known (a registration duty exists, administered by the central bank) and what remains unconfirmed (the specific conditions and ongoing obligations that registration entails). Other sources reviewed this period, outside the Bank's own materials, describe Banco de Moçambique's broader posture as one focused on financial inclusion through mobile-money regulation rather than crypto-specific frameworks, and note that the Bank has previously stated it neither regulates nor monitors Bitcoin transactions because cryptocurrency is not issued by a central authority — observations that describe the backdrop against which the 2023 registration requirement sits, though they predate or sit alongside it rather than displacing it.
No enforcement action, penalty schedule, or registered-provider count under Aviso n.º 4/GBM/2023 has been identified in the evidence available this period. The registration requirement is treated here as in force, dated to its 14 September 2023 publication, with the caveat that its full substantive scope remains to be confirmed against the primary instrument text.
Outlook
The principal item to watch for this module is retrieval of the full text of Aviso n.º 4/GBM/2023, which would allow confirmation of the specific capital, ownership, fit-and-proper and ongoing-reporting conditions attaching to virtual-asset-service-provider registration. Until that confirmation is available, Mozambique's crypto-licensing posture should be read as a confirmed registration gateway of unconfirmed depth, rather than either an absence of regulation or a comprehensive licensing regime.
1 further periodic run re-emitted the standing brief unchanged and is not shown.
Sources and findings (7)
- T1Banco de Moçambique — Real-time trading of cryptocurrencies and other assets on virtual platforms whose domains are not registered in Mozambique proceeds at the risk of the person undertaking it, per Bank of Mozambique foreign exchange licensing guidance. retrieved M5 binding in force
- T1Banco de Moçambique — Undertaking crypto-asset business activity in Mozambican national territory through Mozambique-registered domains (promotion, customer gathering, intermediation, or negotiation) does not require Bank of Mozambique authorization under current law. retrieved M4 binding in force
- T1Virtual Asset Service Providers (Mozambique) — registration before offering exchange, transfer, custody/administration, participation in issuer offerings, or other virtual-asset activity retrieved M5 binding in force
- T3Registered VASP (Mozambique) — commence activity within 90 days of favourable registration order, failing which registration expires retrieved M3 binding in force
- T1Aviso n.º 4/GBM/2023 — Any entity carrying out virtual-asset exchange, transfer, custody/administration, or participation in offer/sale of a virtual asset by an issuer must register with Banco de Moçambique before commencing activity. retrieved M4 binding in force
- T3Aviso n.º 4/GBM/2023 — Operating as a VASP without registration is a misdemeanour punishable by a fine of MZN 300,000 to MZN 10,000,000; registration lapses automatically if activity does not begin within 90 days of a favourable decision. retrieved M4 binding in force