# Jamaica House Begins Debate on Crypto Licensing Framework

By Riza Dagoc

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/regulation/25273
Published: 2026-09-29T10:36:28.000Z
Updated: 2026-09-29T10:36:28.000Z
Section: Regulation

> The proposed law would require virtual-asset businesses serving Jamaican customers to obtain a Financial Services Commission license and follow anti-money-laundering controls.

Jamaica’s House of Representatives began debating a bill Sept. 22 that would require virtual-asset businesses serving customers in the country to obtain licenses and follow financial-crime controls.

The Virtual Assets Service Providers Act would apply to firms that exchange crypto for fiat currency, transfer digital assets between customers’ wallets or accounts, or hold digital assets and private keys for customers.

Businesses serving people in Jamaica would need a license from the Financial Services Commission (FSC), regardless of where they are based. Operating without a license would be a criminal offense under the proposal.

“Operating without a licence is a criminal offence,” Minister of Finance and the Public Service Fayval Williams said during the House debate.

Licensed providers would have to verify customer identities, monitor transactions, report suspicious transactions and maintain records. The bill also includes the “travel rule,” which requires sender and recipient information to accompany digital-asset transfers.

The FSC would have authority to license and supervise virtual-asset businesses and shut down firms that do not comply. Licensed providers would also face obligations under Jamaica’s Proceeds of Crime Act, Terrorism Prevention Act and United Nations Security Council Resolution Implementation Act.

The proposed framework would not give crypto assets legal-tender status. The Jamaican dollar would remain the country’s only legal tender.

“We are not legislating because virtual assets are good or bad. We are legislating because they are here and our people are exposed,” Williams said.

The FSC’s public consultation on proposed virtual-asset-provider licensing requirements, business-conduct standards and anti-money-laundering, counterterrorist-financing and counterproliferation-financing guidelines ran from June 11 through July 10, 2026.

In 2023, Jamaica identified introducing or amending laws regulating virtual assets and virtual-asset providers as necessary to meet its international anti-money-laundering and counterterrorist-financing commitments.

“This bill meets our international obligation. It puts a perimeter around an activity that currently has none,” Williams said.

The bill remains under debate and has not been confirmed as passed or enacted.