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Is crypto legal in Bahrain?

Bahrain licenses crypto businesses. The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has a crypto-asset module with four licence categories, said in January 2025 that eight crypto-asset service providers held licences, and announced stablecoin issuer rules in July 2025.[1][2][3]

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Short answer

  • Businesses need a CBB licence. A person may not market or carry on regulated crypto-asset activities by way of business in or from Bahrain without a CBB licence. [4]
  • Licensed providers exist. In January 2025 the CBB said there were eight crypto-asset service providers across all licence categories. [2]
  • Stablecoins have their own rules. Licensed issuers may issue single-currency stablecoins backed by the Bahraini dinar, the US dollar or another fiat currency the CBB accepts. [5]
  • Individuals. The CBB material we read regulates businesses that provide crypto services. We found no official statement on whether a person may hold crypto, or on legal tender status.

Who is responsible

Authorities whose statements or rules on crypto are cited on this page
AuthorityRole in the sources we cite
Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) Licenses and supervises crypto-asset service providers and stablecoin issuers [4][3]
National Cyber Security Centre Publishes public guidance on threats, including cryptojacking [6]

The CBB crypto-asset module

The module covers trading, dealing, advice, portfolio management, custody and exchange activities in accepted crypto-assets within or from Bahrain. The details below come from the 2022 version; the CBB amended the module in March 2023. [7][8]

  • Category 1: may receive and transmit orders and give investment advice, but may not hold client assets or client money. [9][10]
  • Category 2: may also trade as agent, manage portfolios and provide custody, and may hold client assets, but may not trade on its own account or run an exchange. [11][12]
  • Category 3: may trade as agent and as principal. [13]
  • Safeguards: licensees need a private-key storage policy and enough cyber-security staff for their risks. [14][15]

2023 changes: token offerings and client assets

  • In March 2023 the CBB added digital token offerings to the module. [8]
  • The CBB said a digital token with the characteristics of a security is regulated by the CBB. [16]
  • The amendments added requirements to safeguard client assets. [17]

Licensed providers named by the CBB

These are the licences the CBB announced in the documents we read. They are examples, not a full list; check the CBB's own register for current status.

  • Fasset Financial Services W.L.L. received a Category 3 licence on 23 January 2025. [18]
  • The CBB's 2023 annual report names Amber Technologies Bahrain B.S.C. (c) and Waterfort Bahrain B.S.C. (c) as new Category 3 licensees in 2023; Amber had not yet started operating when the report was prepared. [19][20]

Stablecoins and mining

  • On 4 July 2025 the CBB announced a framework for licensing and regulating stablecoin issuers. [3]
  • On mining, the only official material we found is the National Cyber Security Centre's description of cryptojacking as the unlawful mining of crypto on another person's computer. [6]

What we could not find

On 13 October 2026 we found no official source on:

  • a current, complete list of licensed crypto-asset service providers that we could read directly;
  • whether crypto is legal tender in Bahrain;
  • an official statement on personal trading outside a licensed provider;
  • VAT treatment of crypto trades or crypto services;
  • a rule on mining with one's own equipment;
  • the final detailed text of the July 2025 stablecoin module.

If you know of an official text that answers one of these points, send it through the contact form and we will review it.

About the sources. The CBB website did not load for us during the check, so most CBB pages were read through Internet Archive copies. Each source note says so.

How this compares with Dubai and the UAE

In the UAE, crypto firms need a licence: in Dubai from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA)[21], and under federal rules for the same kind of activity elsewhere in the UAE.[22] See Is crypto legal in Dubai? and the list of firms on the VARA register.

Other Gulf countries

Sources

Each note shows the source, its publisher, the date we last checked it and the status of the statement it supports. Status labels are explained in the editorial policy.

  1. Crypto-asset Module (Internet Archive copy), Central Bank of Bahrain, published 2022. Checked 13 October 2026. Historical Supports: The 2022 CRA Module snapshot provides four categories of crypto-asset licence.
  2. Central Bank of Bahrain grants Crypto Service license to Fasset Financial Services (Internet Archive copy), Central Bank of Bahrain, published 23 January 2025. Checked 13 October 2026. Historical Supports: The CBB said in January 2025 that Fasset was its fifth Category 3 crypto-service licence and that the total number of Crypto Asset Service Providers across all categories was eight.
  3. Central Bank of Bahrain Issues Framework for Regulating Stablecoin Issuance (Internet Archive copy), Central Bank of Bahrain, published 4 July 2025. Checked 13 October 2026. Confirmed Supports: On 4 July 2025, the CBB announced a framework for licensing and regulating stablecoin issuers.
  4. Crypto-asset Module (Internet Archive copy), Central Bank of Bahrain, published 2022. Checked 13 October 2026. Historical Supports: The 2022 CRA Module snapshot says a person may not market or undertake regulated crypto-asset activities by way of business in or from Bahrain without a CBB licence.
  5. Central Bank of Bahrain Issues Framework for Regulating Stablecoin Issuance (Internet Archive copy), Central Bank of Bahrain, published 4 July 2025. Checked 13 October 2026. Confirmed Supports: Under the CBB's July 2025 stablecoin framework announcement, licensed issuers may issue single-currency stablecoins backed by BHD, USD or another fiat currency acceptable to the CBB.
  6. Cryptomining/Cryptojacking, National Cyber Security Centre Bahrain. Checked 13 October 2026. Confirmed Supports: Bahrain's National Cyber Security Centre describes cryptojacking as unlawful mining of cryptocurrencies on another person's computer.
  7. Crypto-asset Module (Internet Archive copy), Central Bank of Bahrain, published 2022. Checked 13 October 2026. Historical Supports: In the CBB's 2022 CRA Module snapshot, the directive covers trading, dealing, advisory, portfolio-management, custody and exchange activities in accepted crypto-assets within or from Bahrain.
  8. CBB Issues a New Regulatory Framework for Digital Tokens Further Developing the Crypto-Assets Market (Internet Archive copy), Central Bank of Bahrain, published 30 March 2023. Checked 13 October 2026. Confirmed Supports: In March 2023, the CBB amended the CRA Module to include digital token offerings in its framework for regulated crypto-asset activities.
  9. Crypto-asset Module (Internet Archive copy), Central Bank of Bahrain, published 2022. Checked 13 October 2026. Historical Supports: Under the 2022 CRA Module snapshot, a Category 1 licensee may receive and transmit orders and provide investment advice in accepted crypto-assets.
  10. Crypto-asset Module (Internet Archive copy), Central Bank of Bahrain, published 2022. Checked 13 October 2026. Historical Supports: Under the 2022 CRA Module snapshot, a Category 1 licensee must not hold client assets or client money.
  11. Crypto-asset Module (Internet Archive copy), Central Bank of Bahrain, published 2022. Checked 13 October 2026. Historical Supports: Under the 2022 CRA Module snapshot, a Category 2 licensee may trade as agent, manage portfolios and provide crypto-asset custody.
  12. Crypto-asset Module (Internet Archive copy), Central Bank of Bahrain, published 2022. Checked 13 October 2026. Historical Supports: Under the 2022 CRA Module snapshot, a Category 2 licensee may hold or control client assets and client money but may not trade from its own account or operate a crypto-asset exchange.
  13. Crypto-asset Module (Internet Archive copy), Central Bank of Bahrain, published 2022. Checked 13 October 2026. Historical Supports: Under the 2022 CRA Module snapshot, a Category 3 licensee may trade in accepted crypto-assets as agent and as principal.
  14. Crypto-asset Module (Internet Archive copy), Central Bank of Bahrain, published 2022. Checked 13 October 2026. Historical Supports: The 2022 CRA Module snapshot requires licensees to maintain a private-key storage policy for prudent safekeeping of seeds and private keys.
  15. Crypto-asset Module (Internet Archive copy), Central Bank of Bahrain, published 2022. Checked 13 October 2026. Historical Supports: The 2022 CRA Module snapshot requires a crypto-asset licensee to employ cyber-security staff adequate to manage its cyber-security risks and core cyber-security functions.
  16. CBB Issues a New Regulatory Framework for Digital Tokens Further Developing the Crypto-Assets Market (Internet Archive copy), Central Bank of Bahrain, published 30 March 2023. Checked 13 October 2026. Confirmed Supports: The CBB said in 2023 that a digital token with the characteristics of a security will be regulated by the CBB.
  17. CBB Issues a New Regulatory Framework for Digital Tokens Further Developing the Crypto-Assets Market (Internet Archive copy), Central Bank of Bahrain, published 30 March 2023. Checked 13 October 2026. Confirmed Supports: The CBB said its March 2023 amendments set new requirements to enhance the safeguarding of clients' assets.
  18. Central Bank of Bahrain grants Crypto Service license to Fasset Financial Services (Internet Archive copy), Central Bank of Bahrain, published 23 January 2025. Checked 13 October 2026. Confirmed Supports: On 23 January 2025, the CBB granted Fasset Financial Services W.L.L. a Category 3 Crypto Asset Service Provider licence for crypto-asset trading services in Bahrain.
  19. Central Bank of Bahrain Annual Report 2023 (Internet Archive copy), Central Bank of Bahrain. Checked 13 October 2026. Historical Supports: In 2023, the CBB issued a Category 3 crypto-asset-services licence to Amber Technologies Bahrain B.S.C. (c), which had not yet commenced operations when the CBB Annual Report 2023 was prepared.
  20. Central Bank of Bahrain Annual Report 2023 (Internet Archive copy), Central Bank of Bahrain. Checked 13 October 2026. Historical Supports: The CBB Annual Report 2023 lists Waterfort Bahrain B.S.C. (c) as a new 2023 Crypto-Asset Services Category 3 licensee.
  21. Law No. (4) of 2022 Regulating Virtual Assets in the Emirate of Dubai, Dubai Legislation Portal, published 28 February 2022. Checked 13 October 2026. Confirmed Supports: A person may not conduct a Dubai virtual asset activity without a VARA permit under Dubai Law No. 4 of 2022.
  22. Cabinet Resolution No. (111) of 2022 Regulating Virtual Assets and the Related Service Providers, UAE Legislation. Checked 13 October 2026. Confirmed Supports: Cabinet Resolution No. 111 of 2022 prohibits a person from engaging in VA activities in the UAE without approval and a licence from the SCA (now the Capital Market Authority) or the applicable local licensing authority.