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No single official list answers “which countries have banned crypto,” because “ban” covers very different things. Some governments prohibit crypto businesses, others restrict only the banks and payment firms that would carry crypto transactions, and at least one of the rules reviewed here, Algeria’s 2018 wording, names private purchase and possession. The most recent national measure covered in this article is China’s joint notice dated 6 February 2026. Egypt, Iraq, Nepal, Bangladesh and Algeria also have their own restrictions, but each one reaches a different set of activities, so the country name alone does not tell you what is restricted. The status below is current to October 2026 only where a primary text or a dated official statement is cited.
What “ban” can mean
Before comparing countries, separate the activities a rule might touch. A country can allow one and prohibit another, so each entry below should be read against the activity it names.
- Holding and use by individuals. The broadest form of restriction, and the hardest to enforce in practice.
- Exchange and trading services. Operating trading platforms, converting between fiat currency and crypto, or acting as a counterparty to a trade.
- Banking and payment channels. Barring banks, card issuers, e-wallets, foreign-exchange dealers and mobile financial services from processing crypto trades or transfers.
- Issuance, promotion and token financing. Creating or marketing tokens, or raising money through them.
- Mining. Running mining projects or selling mining equipment domestically.
Countries at a glance
The table lists the six national positions reviewed for this article, using the official instrument and its date. Where the source does not say whether a rule reaches individuals, the cell says so rather than filling the gap.
| Country | Instrument and date | What it restricts | Who it reaches |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | Joint notice dated 6 February 2026, issued by eight Chinese authorities and published by the China Securities Regulatory Commission | Crypto-related business: fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-crypto exchange, acting as counterparty, transaction intermediation and pricing, token issuance financing, trading crypto-related financial products; mining projects and domestic sales of mining machines | Businesses and service providers, including overseas providers serving domestic entities. Whether private holding is penalised: not stated in the notice, which is written around business and service activity |
| Egypt | Central Bank and Banking System Law No. 194 of 2020, as described by the Central Bank of Egypt | Issuing, trading or promoting cryptocurrency; establishing or operating trading platforms; related activities | Not stated in the central bank’s description for individual holders |
| Iraq | Central Bank of Iraq notice dated 30 March 2022 | Using cards and electronic wallets for speculation and trading in digital currencies | Licensed banks and non-bank financial institutions, which must warn customers and apply due diligence. Whether the notice reaches private holding: not stated |
| Nepal | Nepal Rastra Bank position, explained in a 2023 statement | Crypto transactions, which the bank describes as prohibited | Not specified in the bank’s 2023 explanation |
| Bangladesh | 2022 circular of the Foreign Exchange Policy Department, as described in the Bangladesh Bank Financial Intelligence Unit annual report for 2021–2022 | Virtual assets and virtual currencies; facilitating their exchange, transfer or trading | Banks, foreign-exchange dealers, mobile financial services providers and other financial institutions. The circular’s full text was not available for this description |
| Algeria | Article 117 of the 2018 Financial Law, as reproduced in a 2018 Library of Congress report; 2025 Bank of Algeria guidelines on virtual-asset operations | Purchase, sale, use and possession of virtual currency under the 2018 wording | Anyone buying, selling, using or possessing virtual currency under the 2018 wording. Current scope not confirmed |
Country-by-country detail
China
China’s notice is the most recent national measure in this review. It states, in translation from the Chinese text, that “Virtual currency-related business activities are illegal financial activities.” The notice treats crypto business as a matter of economic and financial order, and it also states, in translation, that “Virtual currencies do not have the same legal status as legal tender.”
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The restriction is written around business and services: exchange services, acting as a counterparty, intermediation and pricing, token issuance financing, and trading crypto-related financial products. It also bars overseas providers from illegally supplying these services to domestic entities. The notice keeps the mining crackdown in place by disallowing mining projects and domestic sales of mining machines. Because the notice is framed around business and service activity, it does not by itself settle whether an individual who simply holds crypto faces penalties, and readers should not assume an answer in either direction.
Egypt
The Central Bank of Egypt says that Law No. 194 of 2020, the Central Bank and Banking System Law, prohibits issuing, trading or promoting cryptocurrency, establishing or operating trading platforms, and related activities. The bank’s stated objection is that crypto is not issued by the Central Bank or another accountable official issuing authority, and so lacks the government guarantee that supports currency stability and traders’ rights.
Anyone who needs the statute’s exact wording should retrieve the text of Law No. 194 of 2020 rather than rely on a paraphrase of the bank’s description. An older survey also records a religious classification of bitcoin in Egypt; that account is covered as a historical rationale below.
Iraq
On 30 March 2022, the Central Bank of Iraq prohibited using cards and electronic wallets for speculation and trading in digital currencies. Licensed banks and non-bank financial institutions were told to warn customers and apply due diligence under Iraq’s 2015 anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing law. In translation from the Arabic, the notice says the currencies “are not subject to any legal, regulatory or technical controls in Iraq.”
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Nepal
Nepal Rastra Bank states that crypto transactions are prohibited. In its 2023 explanation, the bank ties the position to Nepal’s limits on outward investment and capital-account convertibility, its limits on holding foreign cash, its currency controls, and the requirement that Nepalese rupees circulate for domestic transactions. The bank presents the ban as part of Nepal’s own monetary and foreign-exchange system, so it should not be treated as a template for countries with different exchange-control regimes.
Bangladesh
The Bangladesh Bank Financial Intelligence Unit annual report for 2021–2022 describes a 2022 circular from the Foreign Exchange Policy Department. According to the report, the circular prohibited virtual assets and virtual currencies, and it barred banks, foreign-exchange dealers, mobile financial services providers, other financial institutions and relevant stakeholders from facilitating their exchange, transfer or trading. The report also records earlier warnings and suspicious-transaction reporting.
This is a significant restriction on financial channels and the firms that run them. The source is an annual report describing the circular rather than the circular itself, so do not describe it as a blanket ban on every individual act until the operative circular and any later law have been read.
Algeria
The 2018 Library of Congress report reproduces Article 117 of Algeria’s 2018 Financial Law, which prohibits the purchase, sale, use and possession of virtual currency. Of the countries here, this is the clearest example of a rule that names private possession. The Bank of Algeria’s guidance index lists 2025 guidelines on identifying, blocking and prohibiting operations related to virtual assets, which indicates that the regime is active. The current scope and enforcement consequences should still be confirmed against the Arabic or French official text before anyone treats the 2018 wording as today’s rule.
The 2018 Library of Congress classification: historical context only
The Law Library of Congress’s 2018 survey sorted jurisdictions into “absolute ban” and “implicit ban” groups. It is useful for seeing how the picture has changed, but it predates several of the instruments listed above and is not a current roster.
| 2018 category | Jurisdictions listed | Status for this article |
|---|---|---|
| Absolute ban | Algeria | 2018 wording reproduced; 2025 guidelines exist; current scope to be confirmed against the official text |
| Absolute ban | Egypt, Iraq, Nepal | Covered above. The 2022 Iraq notice is limited to card and wallet channels |
| Absolute ban | Bolivia, Morocco | Current status and legal scope not confirmed in current primary sources |
| Absolute ban | Pakistan, United Arab Emirates | Not checked for this article |
| Implicit ban | Bangladesh, China | Covered above. Both now have later instruments: the 2022 Bangladesh circular and the 2026 Chinese notice |
No current, primary-source global count of countries with crypto bans is available, so this article does not offer one. Any figure circulating as the current number should be checked against each country’s own texts.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why governments restrict crypto
The official texts give several distinct reasons. They do not add up to one shared rationale, so each reason below is attributed only to the authority that gave it.
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Financial order, property and social stability
China’s 6 February 2026 notice cites economic and financial order, people’s property, national security and social stability as concerns. Iraq’s central bank frames its warning around currencies that lack legal, regulatory or technical controls in Iraq, which treats the risk as one of unregulated instruments.
Anti-money-laundering and terrorist-financing controls
Iraq ties its notice to due diligence under its 2015 anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing law. Bangladesh’s Financial Intelligence Unit report describes earlier warnings and suspicious-transaction reporting, and the 2018 survey records that Bangladesh’s earlier warnings cited money-laundering and terrorist-financing rules.
Official currency status and government guarantee
Egypt’s central bank says crypto is not issued by the Central Bank or another accountable official issuing authority, and lacks the government guarantee that supports currency stability and traders’ rights. China’s notice says virtual currencies do not share the legal status of legal tender.
Capital controls and domestic monetary arrangements
Nepal Rastra Bank links its position to outward investment limits, capital-account convertibility, limits on holding foreign cash, currency controls, and the requirement that Nepalese rupees circulate domestically. This is the most country-specific rationale in the set, because it depends on an exchange-control system that many other countries do not operate.
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Religious and security objections in older accounts
The 2018 survey records that Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta classified bitcoin transactions as prohibited under Islamic law, and that national-security, central-financial-system and terrorism-financing concerns were raised. These are historical accounts reported by the survey. They are not the rationale written into Egypt’s current central bank description, and they should be attributed as such.
How to check a country’s current rules
For most personal-finance questions, the restriction is felt first through the channel. In Iraq and Bangladesh, the rules fall on banks, card issuers, wallet providers and foreign-exchange dealers, so a transfer or card payment is the most likely point of refusal. Use the steps below to confirm what applies to a specific country.
Quick Recap
- Name the activity. Separate holding, buying and selling, operating an exchange, using bank or card channels, promoting, issuing tokens and mining. A country can allow one and restrict another.
- Find the legal instrument. Look for the statute, the central bank or securities regulator notice, or the circular sent to banks and payment firms. A survey or an annual report is a pointer to the instrument, not a substitute for it.
- Check the date and any later amendment. Record the issue date and look for later laws or notices. The 2018 Library of Congress classifications predate several of the instruments listed above.
- Read the operative text in its official language. Use the Arabic, French, Chinese, Nepali or Bengali text where the rule is published in that language, and quote the translation only with a note that it is a translation.
- Identify who is covered. Check whether the rule binds individuals, domestic firms, banks and payment providers, or foreign service providers.
- Confirm penalties in the primary text. Penalties and enforcement belong in the official text. Where a source does not state them, do not assume them.
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