A new law regulating the Armenian crypto market took effect on July 4, introducing clear legal standards for crypto services, trading, and oversight.

The Law on Crypto Assets came into force on July 4, according to the Central Bank of Armenia.

The law sets out general rules for offering, buying, selling, and providing services related to crypto assets, as well as overseeing this market. It aims to balance the encouragement of innovation with effective risk management, offering a clearer legal framework that allows businesses to operate in a more predictable and secure environment.

The regulation also introduces mechanisms ensuring that only reliable and transparent companies can enter the market. This is essential to protect crypto asset buyers and enhance public trust in the market. The law is based on the principle of “same activity, same risk, same regulation,” meaning that activities involving crypto assets that resemble traditional financial operations and involve similar risks should be regulated in a comparable manner.

Within six months of the law’s enactment, the Central Bank’s board will adopt key secondary regulations, including rules for registering and licensing crypto service providers and standards governing the offering of crypto assets.

Entities already providing crypto services in Armenia as of the law’s effective date will have one year after the relevant secondary licensing regulation takes effect to register and obtain a license from the Central Bank. Others will only be allowed to offer crypto-related services in Armenia after obtaining registration and licensing from the Central Bank.

Until the adoption of the regulation defining the format and content of the crypto asset offering document, issuers or distributors of publicly offered crypto assets in Armenia must, within three months after the regulation comes into force, prepare, publish, and submit an offering document to the Central Bank—unless the law explicitly provides exceptions.