Physical Address
Indirizzo: Via Mario Greco 60, Buttigliera Alta, 10090, Torino, Italy
New guidelines to block operations related to virtual assets
The Bank of Algeria intensifies the fight against crypto-assets
The Bank of Algeria has just published on its website the 06/2025 guidelines developed by its banking commission, intended to strictly regulate the identification, blocking and prohibition of operations involving virtual assets.
The stated objective is clear: to ensure rigorous application of the national ban surrounding these digital assets, due to the high risks of money laundering, terrorist financing and illicit uses associated with them.
This initiative comes at a time when the use of these instruments is experiencing notable growth, fueled by exchanges carried out via foreign platforms despite their ban in Algeria. Distinct from traditional currencies, devoid of state guarantee and not backed by gold or sovereign currencies, virtual assets are characterized by rapid and intermediary-free transactions. A configuration that attracts many users, but which also opens the way to manipulation by malicious actors. Faced with these risks, the new guidelines are intended to guide financial institutions in setting up systems to enforce the ban on the use of these assets in their systems. Banks and Algérie Poste are therefore called upon to strengthen their mechanisms to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism, in particular by adopting a risk-based approach, implementing enhanced vigilance measures and ensuring continuous monitoring of transactions. Staff training, improvement of internal systems for reporting suspicious transactions and the adoption of internal control procedures are also key areas of these new requirements. Financial institutions will also have to apply increased diligence towards their customers, develop active monitoring targeting digital platforms and social networks, and detect any suspicious activity linked to virtual assets. In the event of an anomaly, they are required to immediately inform the Financial Intelligence Processing Unit. The document recalls that any suspicious transaction involving virtual assets must be the subject of an immediate declaration, protected by professional secrecy and accompanied by all the information necessary to assess the level of risk. These measures come as the latest report from the Cell for Identifying Risks Related to Electronic Transactions shows a growing adoption of virtual assets in Algeria. More than 1.74 million national users are recorded, for a value received estimated at $9.7 billion, or more than 16% of the informal sector and more than 4% of GDP. Tether dominates in number of users thanks to its stability, followed by Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin. But in terms of financial volume, Bitcoin occupies first place, due to its high unit value which generates significant transactional amounts despite a smaller number of operations.
Djamila Sai