Ethiopia-based crypto service providers told to register with country’s cyber security agency – regulation Bitcoin News

by Arthur · August 28, 2022

Report: Ethiopia-based crypto service providers told to register with country's cyber security agency

Cryptocurrency service providers operating in Ethiopia are now required to register with the country’s cyber security agency known as the Information Network Security Administration (INSA), a report said. According to the agency, legal measures will be applied to crypto entities that do not comply with the registration call.

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INSA is tasked with developing operating procedures

Ethiopia’s cybersecurity agency, the Information Network Security Administration (INSA), has reportedly begun registering crypto service providers operating in the country. The agency’s registration of crypto entities was made possible by the amendment of a law that paved the way for the re-establishment of INSA.

According to a report published by the Ethiopian Monitor, the amended law empowers the cyber security agency to supervise cryptographic products and related transactions. Additionally, as the designated “Root Certificate Authority”, INSA is tasked with developing operating procedures as well as the cryptographic infrastructure.

Meanwhile, reports of the cyber security agency’s decision to register crypto entities come a few months after the country’s central bank, the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), warned citizens against using cryptocurrencies. As reported by Bitcoin.com News in June, the NBE not only warned against using cryptocurrencies to make payments, but also encouraged reporting such transactions.

INSA will take measures against unregistered crypto service providers

Despite the NBE’s hostile stance towards cryptocurrencies, INSA is quoted in the Ethiopian Monitor as advising crypto service providers operating in the country to comply with the registration call. The agency said:

There is interest among individuals and entities to provide crypto services including mining and transfer. [Therefore] in order to properly regulate this field, INSA has started registering individuals and entities involved in crypto operations (services), including transmission and/or mining.

According to the report, crypto service providers have been given a ten-day period in which to complete the registration process. INSA said necessary “legal action” would be taken against non-compliant entities.

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Central Bank, Crypto Entities, Crypto Regulation, Crypto Service Providers, Cryptocurrencies, Cryptographic Products, Ethiopia, Ethiopia Crypto, Ethiopian Monitor, Information Network Security Administration (INSA), INSA, National Bank of Ethiopia, Register Crypto Entities

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Terence Zimwara

Terence Zimwara is a Zimbabwean award-winning journalist, writer and author. He has written extensively about the economic problems in some African countries, as well as how digital currencies can provide Africans with an escape route.