Suriname Approves Law to Supervise Virtual Asset Providers

• Suriname joins the list of countries in the region with regulations for the ecosystem.
• The Central Bank of Suriname is the entity responsible for supervising bitcoin exchanges.

The National Assembly of Suriname approved the Law on Supervision of Virtual Asset Service Providers (Wet Toezicht Virtuele Activa Dienstverleners) on August 21.

With this new regulation, Suriname takes an important step in defining clear and transparent rules for its growing virtual asset market, primarily bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

The new law subjects companies and individuals offering services related to virtual assets to supervision. Service providers will have to comply with a series of legal requirements and submit to the oversight of the country's authorities.

It has been decided that the Central Bank of Suriname (CBvS) is responsible for supervising compliance with legal provisions, with powers established in the law for this purpose.

Additionally, the conditions and obligations that service providers must meet are established, which include registering users with KYC, reporting suspicious transactions, and implementing sanctions.

According to the Surinamese government, the law aims to better protect users and facilitate the tracking of financial transactions. They also seek to prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

This is why the implementation aligns with international rules and recommendations in the field of financial supervision and the fight against financial crime. In particular, it adheres to FATF Recommendation 15, regarding virtual assets and the related risks.

The idea is to comply with Article 10 of the Central Bank Law 2022 and the Law for the Prevention and Combat of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing. In this regard, the president of the Reports Commission, Rabindre Parmessar, emphasized the importance of Suriname not appearing on an international blacklist.

In case of non-compliance, measures and sanctions are foreseen. In this way, a framework for comprehensive, transparent, and controlled service provision in the field of cryptocurrencies is created.

Overall, the goal is to meet the need for clear rules for the sector, as has been emphasized recently by the Central Bank of Suriname, the banking sector, and members of the National Assembly.

The approved project was presented on July 6, 2026, in the National Assembly. The commission responsible for its preparation included members Parmessar, Gajadien, Rossellie Cotino, Kishan Ramsukul, Jeffrey Lau, Ronny Asabina, and Jennifer Vreedzaam.

Following the announcement of its approval, well-known bitcoiner Maya Parbhoe (Daedalus Labs, Bitcoin Sranam) celebrated the event in a post on X:

I have been promoting Bitcoin in Suriname for over a decade, when most people still thought it was an Internet scam, a speculative asset, or something we could simply ignore. We cannot do that. Bitcoin is here. The question is whether Suriname will be a consumer of the next financial system or one of its builders. Today we decided to move forward. Now we must ensure that the implementation does not stifle the same innovation we are trying to attract. Regulate businesses. Protect people from fraud. Provide certainty to entrepreneurs. But leave Bitcoin alone. Because mathematics is not regulated. An open protocol is not regulated. And, of course, you cannot vote for Bitcoin to exist or cease to exist.

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