Cryptocurrencies

In 2023, 9.7% of adult Tanzanians were aware of cryptocurrencies, while 1.7% were actively investing in them, marking the early but accelerating mainstreaming of digital assets in the country's financial system.^[2]

Cryptocurrencies are emerging as a significant component of Tanzania's evolving digital finance landscape, alongside blockchain technology and artificial intelligence.

The Financial Sector Deepening Trust (FSDT) Tanzania identifies these emerging technologies as forces expected to reshape the financial landscape and drive further financial inclusion.^[1]

Government engagement with digital assets has moved from political acknowledgment in 2021 to active technical research, including a pilot assessment by the National Cryptocurrency Technical Committee (NTC) and an ongoing feasibility study for a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Cryptocurrency Adoption and Market Participation

Awareness of cryptocurrencies among Tanzanian adults reached 9.7% in 2023, signalling a clear penetration of digital asset knowledge into the broader population.^[2]

Of that group, 1.7% of adult Tanzanians were actively investing in cryptocurrencies in 2023, indicating a small but meaningful base of retail crypto participation.^[2]

This adoption profile places cryptocurrencies among the emerging technologies, alongside blockchain and artificial intelligence, that the FSDT expects to reshape the financial landscape and drive further financial inclusion.^[1]

The combination of rising awareness and active investment establishes Tanzania as a relevant market for digital asset infrastructure providers, exchanges, and wallet operators serving the East African region.

National Cryptocurrency Technical Committee Pilot Assessment

To evaluate growing participation in digital assets, the National Cryptocurrency Technical Committee (NTC) conducted a pilot assessment in Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar.^[2]

The pilot analysed transaction volumes, market activities, and regulatory issues across the two jurisdictions, providing a structured evidence base for future policy action.

The assessment drew on data from cryptocurrency exchanges, blockchain explorers, and crypto wallets, reflecting the actual on-chain and off-chain activity of Tanzanian users.

This approach gives the authorities a granular view of how digital assets are being used in practice, and what specific regulatory gaps need to be addressed.

Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Research

The Bank of Tanzania (BOT) is currently researching the feasibility of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), in line with the directive issued in June 2021 by President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who acknowledged that blockchain and digital assets represent the future of finance.^[3]

The ongoing CBDC assessment focuses on three pillars: population readiness, infrastructural requirements, and the potential implications for national payment systems and monetary policy.

This research positions Tanzania within the global wave of central banks evaluating sovereign digital currencies as complements to existing cash and mobile money systems.

A future CBDC would interact with Tanzania's already extensive mobile money ecosystem, with significant implications for payment system architecture and cross-border settlement.

Regulatory Landscape

There is currently no specific regulation governing the use of cryptocurrencies in Tanzania, leaving the sector in a development phase pending the outcome of the NTC pilot assessment and CBDC research.^[2]

Despite the absence of dedicated crypto legislation, the policy direction at the highest level is constructive: in June 2021 President Samia Suluhu Hassan urged the BOT to prepare for the adoption of blockchain and digital assets, framing them as the future of finance.^[3]

The dual track of NTC pilot work on cryptocurrencies and BOT research into a CBDC suggests that a formal regulatory framework, covering exchanges, wallet providers, taxation, and consumer protection, is in active preparation.

For market participants, this means engagement with Tanzanian authorities during the policy formation window is a strategic opportunity to help shape standards.

Investment Opportunities

The combination of 9.7% adult awareness and 1.7% active investment in cryptocurrencies as of 2023 defines a clear retail user base that can support local exchange platforms, wallet services, and crypto-to-mobile-money on-ramps.^[2]

Compliance technology, blockchain analytics, and Know-Your-Customer (KYC) tooling represent an open opportunity, given that the NTC pilot in Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar specifically analysed transaction volumes, market activities, and regulatory issues using exchange, blockchain explorer, and wallet data.^[2]

The BOT's ongoing CBDC feasibility study, covering population readiness, infrastructure, and payment system implications, opens space for digital identity providers, payment rails integrators, and core banking technology vendors capable of supporting a sovereign digital currency rollout.^[3]

Broader fintech opportunities are reinforced by the FSDT view that blockchain, artificial intelligence, and digital currencies will reshape the financial landscape and drive further financial inclusion, creating room for investors targeting underbanked segments through digital asset products.^[1]

Early movers establishing licensed exchanges, custody services, and remittance corridors stand to benefit from being in place when a formal regulatory regime is enacted.

Last Update: May 2026

References

1. https://www.fsdt.or.tz/2024/11/29/digital-financial-services-and-financial-technology-in-tanzania/ (Guide reference #109)
2. https://www.fsdt.or.tz/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/FinScope-Tanzania-2023-Full-Report-Insights-that-Drive-Innovation.pdf (Guide reference #110)
3. https://www.pwc.co.tz/press-room/navigating-uncharted-territory.html (Guide reference #111)