Rwanda central bank has issued a public warning after global crypto exchange Bybit quietly added the Rwandan franc (FRW) to its peer‑to‑peer (P2P) trading platform, a move made without local regulatory clearance.
The National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) took to social media this week to remind citizens that the Rwandan franc is the country’s only legal tender and that crypto‑assets are not authorised for payments, FRW conversion, or P2P trading involving the local currency.
The statement followed Bybit’s April 2 announcement that RWF was “now live” on its P2P market, allowing users to buy and sell crypto using francs and to earn commissions as merchants. The BNR warned of “serious financial risks” and stressed there would be no recourse for anyone who loses money in such transactions: no regulatory approval, no insurance and no safety net.
This is not the first time Rwanda’s central bank has cautioned the public about cryptocurrencies. In 2018 the BNR declared cryptocurrencies illegal and warned that anyone trading them did so at their own risk. Since then, Rwanda’s approach has evolved only cautiously.
In March 2025 the BNR and the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) announced enforcement intentions around a draft law to regulate virtual assets. That framework would bring crypto service providers under the CMA’s licensing regime while expressly confirming that virtual assets are not legal tender and cannot be used for payments in Rwanda.
Bybit’s launch of RWF trading arrived while Rwanda was still building but had not yet finalised its legal framework for virtual assets. The timing therefore placed the exchange’s move in a regulatory grey zone and prompted the swift public response from the country’s top financial regulator.
Rwanda is also developing its own central bank digital currency (CBDC). The BNR aims to pilot a government‑controlled digital franc domestically and then run a six‑month international test focused on cross‑border payments. Unregulated foreign platforms offering FRW‑linked crypto services risk undermining the CBDC project and could erode public confidence in the currency.
Rwanda’s regulators have also signalled concern about international standards. The CMA has pointed to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) warnings about cryptocurrencies being used for money‑laundering and other illicit finance, using those concerns to justify formal regulation of virtual asset service providers (VASPs).
The immediate outcomes hinge on two factors: whether Bybit removes RWF trading from its P2P platform voluntarily or awaits formal regulatory action, and how rapidly Rwanda finalises and enforces the Virtual Assets Service Providers law. Under the draft law, operators running unlicensed VASP services in Rwanda could face fines of up to 30 million Rwandan francs (roughly $21,000) and up to five years in prison.
If the CMA moves to enforce these penalties before the law is formally enacted, that would send a strong deterrent message to other foreign crypto platforms considering East African markets. Bybit’s RWF listing has exposed the tension between fast‑moving crypto platforms and Rwanda’s deliberate, security‑focused regulatory approach.
The episode highlights broader policy trade‑offs: the need to protect national currency integrity and public confidence, the drive to regulate risks associated with virtual assets, and the imperative to align with international anti‑money‑laundering standards, all while Rwanda builds its own digital‑currency infrastructure.
