The African nation of Namibia is doubling up its efforts towards embracing cryptocurrencies and digital assets. The country has approved a bill in the National Assembly which aims to regulate cryptocurrencies, digital assets and virtual asset service providers (VASPs) within Namibia.

Passing Namibia’s lower house of parliament on June 22 of the current year, the legislation aims at building a framework for the regulation and licensing of VASPs, while also seeking to appoint a regulatory watchdog which will supervise such providers and their activities.

Among the bill’s main objectives is also to bolster consumer protection, preventing market abuse activities and lowering the risks of money laundering, the financing of terrorism and proliferation activities which occur on digital asset markets.

Local media outlet reports suggest that the bill is now only awaiting to be officially publicized before coming into effect.  Namibia’s Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises, Iipumbu Shiimi, reportedly highlighted that the establishment of such regulatory body will supervise VASPs and grant them licenses.

While the Bank of Namibia maintains the notion that cryptocurrencies do not hold the status of legal tender in the African nation, noncompliant providers can face a 10-year prison term alongside monetary penalties of up to 10 million Namibian dollars, which equates to nearly $670,000 at the time of writing.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-namibia-passes-bill-to-regulate-crypto-and-virtual-assets

https://www.parliament.na/b12-2023-virtual-assets-bill/

https://www.namibian.com.na/parliament-approves-law-to-regulate-cryptocurrency/?ref=mariblock.com