Morocco Prepares Legal Framework to Legalize Cryptocurrencies

Morocco’s central bank is planning to legalize all cryptocurrencies as the population actively uses them, despite a total ban on digital assets introduced in the country in 2017.

Bank Al-Maghrib, Morocco’s central bank, drafted a bill to regulate cryptocurrencies, which is currently under consideration. According to Reuters, this information was shared by Abdellatif Jouahri, Governor of Bank Al-Maghrib, during an international conference in Rabat. 

Moreover, Bank Al-Maghrib is studying the possibility of creating a CBDC. The bank’s officials are particularly interested in the potential to expand access to financial services for the population.

In November 2017, Moroccan authorities imposed a nationwide ban on crypto transactions. However, the restrictions didn’t significantly impact the level of crypto usage, with a substantial part of the population owning digital assets. According to analysts, over 900,000 Moroccan citizens owned Bitcoin in 2021, representing 2.4% of the country’s total population. At that time, Morocco led North Africa in this metric. 

Overall, users from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region accounted for about 7.5% of the total crypto transaction volume in H1 2024.