Rwanda’s capital market players attended a virtual assets awareness session aimed at building knowledge on the country’s new legal and regulatory framework for virtual assets.
The session, facilitated by Crystal Intelligence and Tether Ltd, followed the recent approval by Parliament of the draft law on virtual assets business. The law seeks to provide legal clarity, promote safe innovation, protect investors and build trust in Rwanda’s financial market.
At the workshop, the Chief Executive Officer of the Capital Market Authority Romeo Ngarambe said awareness and technical capacity are important as Rwanda prepares to regulate the virtual assets sector. “Virtual assets present both opportunities and challenges, and the framework we have adopted strikes a good balance between the opportunities and potential risks,” Ngarambe said.
He said the framework marks an important step for Rwanda’s financial sector and forms part of national efforts to promote innovation while protecting market integrity, investors, consumers and financial stability.
Ngarambe added that the framework will also help address risks linked to money laundering and terrorism financing, which remain key concerns in the virtual assets sector. He noted that effective implementation of the law will require strong technical knowledge and close collaboration among public institutions, regulators and market stakeholders.
The awareness session brought together representatives from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, National Bank of Rwanda, Financial Intelligence Centre, Rwanda Revenue Authority, Rwanda Finance Limited, law enforcement agencies, Rwanda Law Reform Commission, Rwanda Stock Exchange and the Capital Market Authority.