Vanuatu

DeFi Intel Research Desk2026-07-14Oceania

Is crypto legal in Vanuatu? (2026)

Yes — cryptocurrency is legal in Vanuatu. Current status: Legal; VASP activity licensed by VFSC. Oversight sits with Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC). Full details — governing law, licensing, tax and dated enforcement history — follow below (last reviewed 2026-07-14).

Framework: The Virtual Asset Service Providers Act No. 3 of 2025, passed by Vanuatu's Parliament on 26 March 2025 and gazetted by the VFSC, is the dedicated regime for crypto businesses. It designates the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC) as the single licensing and supervisory authority for virtual asset service providers.

The Act defines a virtual asset as a "digital representation of value that may be traded and function as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, or a store of value," and expressly excludes digital representations of fiat currencies, securities, national digital currencies and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs); reporting on the Act also places stablecoins and tokenised securities outside its scope. Licensable activities span crypto exchanges, transfer services, custody providers, token offerings (ITOs/ICOs), NFT marketplaces and banks providing crypto exchange and custody services — described by advisers as a multi-class (Class D) structure that builds on the earlier Financial Dealers Licence Class D, which had authorised distribution, secondary trading, custodial storage and investment advice for digital assets. The VFSC commissioner may also stand up a "Fintech Sandbox Utility" letting approved firms operate as VASPs for one year, renewable. Crypto is not legal tender in Vanuatu; the VFSC treats it as a store of value and, historically, restricted digital-asset investment to sophisticated and expert investors rather than retail consumers, with no statutory compensation protection. A government regulatory adviser characterised the new framework as "very strict," a notable shift for a jurisdiction long associated with inexpensive offshore financial-dealer licences.

Tax treatment

Vanuatu is a zero-direct-tax jurisdiction: it levies no personal income tax, no capital-gains tax, no corporate income tax and no inheritance or wealth tax, for residents and non-residents alike. There is accordingly no income-tax or capital-gains charge on cryptoasset gains. The principal government revenue source is Value Added Tax (VAT), levied at a standard 15%, which can apply to goods and services purchased with crypto.

• Capital-gains tax: None (Vanuatu levies no capital-gains tax)
• Income / corporate tax on crypto: None (no personal income or corporate income tax)
• VAT: 15% standard rate on goods and services

Travel rule applicability

Status: applies to licensed VASPs. The VASP Act aligns Vanuatu with FATF standards and empowers the VFSC to enforce anti-money-laundering, counter-terrorism-financing and travel-rule obligations on digital-asset firms, explicitly implementing FATF Recommendation 16 (the travel rule). Specific transfer-data thresholds under the implementing rules are pending verification against the gazetted Act text.

Notable enforcement actions

• 2025. The VASP Act granted the VFSC enhanced investigation and enforcement powers, with reported penalties of up to VT 250 million (approximately US$2 million) in fines plus lengthy imprisonment; the exact maximum prison term varies across reporting (figures from 10 years upward have been cited by different outlets) and is pending verification against the gazetted Act.
• Ongoing. The VFSC has publicly warned that it does not recognise or approve the self-styled "Vanuatu Independent Financial Regulatory Authority" and told the public to stop referring to or using that entity's website — part of a pattern of VFSC notices against bodies falsely implying VFSC status.

Public licensed CASP list

The VFSC maintains the register of financial-dealer and virtual-asset licences and publishes public notices at vfsc.vu. A confirmed public roster of VASPs licensed under the new Act No. 3 of 2025 was not verified during this research cycle — consult the VFSC register for live licence status, and treat any firm merely advertising a "Vanuatu crypto licence" as unverified until confirmed against the Commission's own records.

Comparison to neighbours

Compare Vanuatu crypto regulation with three geographically adjacent jurisdictions:

Doing business in Vanuatu — practical notes

From 2025, offering virtual-asset services from or in Vanuatu requires a VFSC licence under the VASP Act, with FATF-aligned AML/CTF, KYC and travel-rule compliance and enforcement exposure (fines to VT 250 million and imprisonment) for unlicensed operation. The zero-direct-tax environment remains a genuine draw, but the dedicated licensing regime and "very strict" characterisation signal that Vanuatu is repositioning away from its earlier reputation for cheap, lightly supervised offshore licences. Verify current VFSC rules, fees and capital or insurance requirements — several of which are set by regulation rather than in the Act text — before structuring any entity.

Methodology and sources

This profile was researched and updated by DeFi Intel's research desk on 2026-07-14 from the primary and secondary sources listed below, including the VFSC-published VASP Act and contemporaneous reporting. Claims that could not be verified against a source are omitted or marked pending — we do not republish unverified third-party datasets. Submit corrections and primary-source links to [email protected].

Sources

• VFSC — Virtual Asset Services Providers Act No. 3 of 2025 (official gazette PDF)
• Vanuatu Financial Services Commission — official site and public notices
• Financial Center Association of Vanuatu — Vanuatu passes the VASP Act (26 March 2025)
• CoinGeek — Vanuatu passes digital asset framework
• crypto.news — Vanuatu passes crypto licensing and regulation framework
• ChainCatcher — Vanuatu passes crypto regulation, described as "very strict"
• Invest Vanuatu (Foreign Investment Promotion Agency) — low-tax jurisdiction overview