Rwanda’s National Bank has publicly warned Rwandans against using the Rwandan Franc for crypto transactions just days after global exchange Bybit quietly added the FRW to its peer-to-peer trading platform without regulatory clearance.
The National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) fired back on social media this week, posting a firm reminder that the Rwandan Franc remains the country’s only legal tender and that crypto-assets are not authorized for payments, FRW conversion, or P2P trading involving the local currency.
The post came directly in response to Bybit’s April 2 announcement that the RWF was “now live” on its P2P platform where users could buy and sell crypto using Rwanda Franc and even earn commissions as merchants.
The BNR did not mince words. It warned the public of “serious financial risks” and made clear there would be no recourse for anyone who loses money through such transactions. No regulatory approval. No insurance. No safety net.
This isn’t the first time Rwanda’s central bank has had to push back on the crypto space. In 2018, the BNR declared cryptocurrencies illegal and warned that any Rwandan trading crypto does so at their own risk.
That stance has since evolved but carefully. In March 2025, Rwanda’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) and the BNR announced enforcement of a draft law to regulate virtual assets, placing crypto service providers under the CMA’s licensing framework.
That same draft law confirmed that virtual assets would not be recognised as legal tender and cannot be used for payments within Rwanda.
In other words, Bybit launched the RWF on its P2P market at exactly the moment Rwanda was building but had not yet finalized a legal framework for crypto.
The move landed in a regulatory grey zone and triggered a direct response from the country’s top financial regulator.
For Rwanda, the stakes go beyond one exchange’s product launch. The country is simultaneously developing its own Central Bank Digital Currency a government-controlled digital franc with the BNR aiming to pilot the digital franc domestically before a six-month international test focused on cross-border payments.
Allowing unregulated foreign platforms to attach the Rwandan Franc to crypto markets undermines that entire project and risks eroding public trust in the currency itself.
The BNR is also acutely aware of FATF pressure: Rwanda’s CMA has cited the Financial Action Task Force’s concerns about crypto being used as a channel for money laundering as a core reason for bringing in formal regulations.
What happens next depends on two things: whether Bybit removes the RWF from its P2P platform voluntarily or waits for formal pressure, and how quickly Rwanda finalizes its Virtual Assets Service Providers law.
Under the draft law, operators of unlicensed VASPs in Rwanda face fines of up to 30 million Rwandan Francs roughly $21,000 and up to five years in prison.
If Rwanda’s CMA moves to enforce those rules before the law is formally passed, it would send a strong signal to any other foreign crypto platform eyeing the East African market.
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