Is crypto legal in Tanzania?

In Tanzania, the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) is the central bank. In the documents quoted below, it describes itself as the sole institution mandated, under sections 26 and 27 of the Bank of Tanzania Act, 2006, to issue banknotes and coins and to declare a legal tender in the country.

The quotes come from two BoT documents published in November 2019. The first is a public notice on cryptocurrencies, listed by the BoT with the date 12 November 2019. The second is a press release dated 29 November 2019, titled “Bank of Tanzania not involved in cryptocurrency”, which refers back to that public warning. In them, the BoT advises the public against trading, marketing and usage of virtual currency, says that the Tanzanian Shilling is the only acceptable and used legal tender in the country, cautions the public that virtual currencies are not legally authorized in Tanzania, and says that the foreign exchange regulatory framework does not include trading or usage of any virtual currency.

We found no later BoT statement on cryptocurrencies in its list of press releases and public notices when we checked on 28 October 2026, so the quotes keep their 2019 dates.

The quoted statements do not name a body that licenses crypto platforms in Tanzania, so no register is linked on this page. Questions about a specific platform can be sent to the BoT through the contacts on its website.