Papua New Guinea (PNG) has no legal mechanism for the regulation of virtual assets and virtual asset service providers (VASPs), according to the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG). The APG rated R.15 non-compliant in its mutual evaluation, adopted in September 2024. Recommendation 15 (R.15) is the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standard for VASPs. Bougainville crypto regulation inherits that national gap, and the Bougainville Peace Agreement puts Central Banking and Currency on the National Government list for Papua New Guinea as a whole, including Bougainville.
The Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) works inside national law: The ABG cannot make laws that contradict the national PNG system of law. The sections below separate what is enacted from what is only proposed, then cover the regulator, licensing, anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) duties, tax and the FATF grey listing. They close with the September 1, 2027 date that ABG President Ishmael Toroama calls a fixed political and administrative deadline.
Key Takeaways
- Under the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement, Central Banking and Currency stay on the National Government list.
- There is no licensing or registration regime for VASPs, and Recommendation 15 is rated non-compliant, per the APG evaluation adopted in September 2024.
- Ordering financial institutions must ensure that cross-border electronic funds transfers of K2,500 (about $640) or more are always accompanied by originator and receiver information, a threshold below the FATF figure of $1,000, according to the APG.
- The FATF identified Papua New Guinea for increased monitoring on February 13, 2026, and it was still listed in the October 30, 2026 statement, according to the FATF.
- ABG President Ishmael Toroama calls September 1, 2027 a fixed political and administrative deadline.
- In the 2019 referendum, 97.7% of the vote went to independence, though the referendum is not outcome-determining, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) reports.
Does Bougainville have its own crypto law?
The Autonomous Bougainville Government governs Bougainville as an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea, but it is “autonomous within” rather than “independent from” PNG, according to the APG. Central Banking and Currency sit on the National Government list in paragraph 51 of the 2001 peace agreement. Because the ABG cannot contradict national law, digital-asset rules follow it.
Bougainville has its own governing constitution and can make its own laws, establish its own courts, public service and police service, according to the ABG. Those powers stop at national subjects. A search of ABG laws and public notices turned up no Bougainville crypto act or crypto regulator.
Autonomous within, not independent from: The APG’s mutual evaluation states that the ABG cannot make laws that contradict the national PNG system of law. Any Bougainville cryptocurrency law would have to sit inside that limit.
Is crypto legal in Bougainville?
No captured law bans or licenses holding crypto in Bougainville. Papua New Guinea has no legal mechanism for the regulation of VA/VASPs, and that national position covers Bougainville. The accurate answer is that no crypto-specific statute applies, which is different from a legal green light.
Can Bougainville issue its own currency?
No. In a notice dated November 16, 2016, the ABG said the only legal tender in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville is the Papua New Guinea Kina. John Momis, ABG President at the time, added that Bougainville does not have the power from the National Government to have its own currency as yet. That puts the question in Port Moresby.
Papua New Guinea Crypto Regulation: What National Law Covers
The APG’s mutual evaluation found that PNG has no legal mechanism for the regulation of VA/VASPs and rated Recommendation 15 non-compliant. The FATF dates the adoption of that evaluation to September 2024. For Papua New Guinea crypto regulation, the starting point is therefore an absence of rules.
PNG’s sectoral risk assessment on VA/VASPs demonstrated zero or minimal presence of virtual assets and VASPs in PNG. The APG reports that recommendations include forming a committee at the national level to develop a legal and regulatory framework to govern the trading of virtual assets in PNG.
Key finding: The APG found that PNG does not have any locally incorporated VASPs operating during the period assessed, and there is no evidence of material foreign VASPs operating within PNG. A market that small gives lawmakers little pressure to move first.
PNG was in the process of making legislative changes that take into account the risks associated with VASPs, the evaluation adds. Against the crypto regulation by country picture, PNG sits among the jurisdictions with no enacted framework at all. No framework means no license to apply for.
Do crypto exchanges need a license in Bougainville?
Under criterion 15.4, the APG states that there is no licensing or registration regime for VASPs in Papua New Guinea, which includes Bougainville, in the evaluation adopted in September 2024. Under criterion 15.5, PNG does not have a clear definition of VASPs that would trigger the need for registration or license. No exchange license exists to apply for. In the APG’s terms, a FI is a financial institution and a DNFBP is a designated non-financial business or profession, both covered by the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing Act 2015 (AMLCTF Act).
| APG test | Finding for PNG VASPs |
|---|---|
| Legal and regulatory framework | No legal and regulatory framework exists |
| Status under the AMLCTF Act | VASPs are not a FI or DNFBP |
| Criterion 15.4, licensing | No licensing or registration regime for VASPs |
| Criterion 15.5, definition | No clear definition of VASPs |
| Criterion 15.6, supervision | No measures or requirements on supervision of VASPs |
| Risk assessment | Undertaken for VA/VASPs |
| Recommendation 15 rating | Non-compliant |
Source: Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering
The table shows a risk assessment as the only completed step. PNG has undertaken a risk assessment of VA/VASPs although it has not taken any other steps to give effect to the VA/VASP requirements of R.15. That leaves PNG without the exchange licensing requirements that other markets apply to trading venues.
No license means no local supervision: There are no measures or requirements imposed by PNG in relation to supervision of VASPs. A platform serving users in Bougainville answers to no PNG crypto supervisor.
What would a licensing path look like?
The APG records that recommendations include a national committee to develop a legal and regulatory framework to govern the trading of virtual assets. No draft license category has been published in the sources reviewed, so any regime remains a proposal. AML law is where the gap shows.
Who oversees Bougainville crypto regulation?
FASU is the sole AML/CFT supervisor in PNG with adequate powers of supervisors, according to the APG. FASU is the Financial Analysis and Supervision Unit. VASPs are not a FI or DNFBP under the AMLCTF Act, so FASU’s reach stops before crypto firms, and central banking stays a national power.
| Body | Legal role | Position on crypto |
|---|---|---|
| Bank of Papua New Guinea | Central banking, currency (National Government list) | No crypto statement in the sources reviewed; ran a CBDC feasibility study |
| FASU | Sole AML/CFT supervisor in PNG | VASPs are not a FI or DNFBP under the AMLCTF Act |
| Autonomous Bougainville Government | Autonomous within PNG; cannot contradict national law | National Government will make its best efforts to assist the ABG to assume powers to supervise non-banking financial institutions |
Source: Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering, Bougainville Peace Agreement, Bank for International Settlements
President Momis said in the ABG notice that “The Bank of Papua New Guinea does not recognise any other currency in PNG or Bougainville for that matter except for the PNG Kina.” FASU’s powers include the power to impose sanctions, and PNG’s AML status now sits under FATF watch.
Papua New Guinea on the FATF Grey List
The FATF identified Kuwait and Papua New Guinea for increased monitoring on February 13, 2026; its statement says that in February 2026 PNG made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and APG. PNG was still under increased monitoring in the FATF statement of October 30, 2026. Because AML law is national, the listing covers Bougainville too. The FATF’s October 30, 2026 statement lists 7 action-plan items, including:
- endorsing the national AML/CFT strategic plan.
- seeking outbound international cooperation to trace criminal property abroad.
- improving risk-based supervision of banks, money transfer and foreign exchange dealers, and higher-risk DNFBPs.
- increasing money laundering investigations and prosecutions.
- addressing technical compliance deficiencies, including the money laundering and terrorist financing offences, politically exposed persons and suspicious transaction reporting.
None of the seven items names virtual assets or VASPs. The AML duties that do exist sit with financial institutions and DNFBPs.
Why it matters: Since the adoption of its mutual evaluation report in September 2024, Papua New Guinea has made progress on some of the report’s recommended actions, including developing a national risk assessment. The action plan sets tasks for PNG’s authorities, not crypto platforms, and the emerging-market crypto rules elsewhere show how often licensing waits.
AML and Travel Rule Duties for Crypto in PNG
Ordering financial institutions must ensure that cross-border electronic funds transfers equal or greater than K2,500 (about $640) are always accompanied by originator and receiver information, under s.31 of the AMLCTF Act. That threshold is lower than the FATF requirement of $1,000, the APG notes. Recommendation 16 is rated partially compliant.
Does the Travel Rule apply to crypto transfers in PNG?
Not as a crypto rule. VASPs are not a FI or DNFBP under the AMLCTF Act, and PNG has not taken any other steps to give effect to the VA/VASP requirements of R.15. The wire rule above binds ordering financial institutions, while crypto AML compliance duties such as the Travel Rule have no PNG legal hook. Tax follows the same national line.
How is crypto taxed in Bougainville?
The National Government will continue to impose and collect personal income tax until restoration is achieved under paragraph 140 of the Bougainville Peace Agreement. The peace agreement gives the ABG the power to adjust the rate of personal income tax that applies in Bougainville, “by no more than five per cent”.
The ABG will assume the powers to impose, set rates of, and collect personal income tax when restoration is achieved. None of the sources reviewed sets a crypto-specific tax rule for PNG or Bougainville. The bigger variable is Bougainville’s political status.
Bougainville and PNG Crypto Rules: Key Dates
The dates run from the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement to the ABG’s September 1, 2027 deadline. The ABG page describes Bougainville as the only province of Papua New Guinea that has had an autonomous government since 2005.
View the data
Only the last of those dates is still ahead.
Bank of Papua New Guinea and Its Digital Currency Test
The Bank of Papua New Guinea (BPNG) ran a central bank digital currency (CBDC) study designed as an exploratory step, the Governor said in a speech published by the Bank for International Settlements. The study evaluated the feasibility of introducing a CBDC in Papua New Guinea. Staff from the BPNG, JICA and the Japanese Embassy tested digital payments and transaction security under controlled conditions. A feasibility test of a state digital currency is separate from rules for private crypto, and the central bank digital currency data shows how many such pilots stop at that stage.
Crypto Scam Warnings in Papua New Guinea
PNGX Markets Limited, the national stock exchange of Papua New Guinea, warned on August 3, 2026 of fraudulent Facebook pages using its name. The scammers’ approaches included false investment offers, cryptocurrency training and requests for personal information or money.
Impersonation scams: PNGX said the pages have no affiliation whatsoever with PNGX or its staff. With no VASP license regime, a crypto offer in PNG or Bougainville carries no PNG VASP license to check.
What could change before 2027?
Paragraph 89 of the peace agreement says the National Government will make its best efforts to assist the ABG to assume powers to supervise non-banking financial institutions. That step has not turned into crypto rules yet.
Under paragraph 91, the National Government and the ABG will consult, as part of the agreed review process, on what other central banking responsibilities it might be appropriate for Bougainville to assume after fiscal self-reliance. That consultation has not produced crypto rules either.
In the 2019 referendum, 97.7% of the vote went to independence on 87.4% turnout, though the referendum is not outcome-determining, IFES reports. ABG President Toroama said in April 2022 that the Era Kone Covenant activates the drafting of the Constitutional Regulations, which will give clarity to the ratification process by the National Parliament.
Worth noting: ABG President Toroama said that September 1, 2027 was a fixed political and administrative deadline, and listed outcomes including legislation enacted and powers transferred and operationalised. None of those outcomes names crypto, so any Bougainville digital-asset law remains a possibility, not a plan.
ABG Vice President Hon. Ezekiel Masatt outlined three strategies for independence: ratification under the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement, the constitution-making process, and international lobbying. Two things to watch: a national PNG virtual-asset law, and any ABG take-up of paragraph 89.
Conclusion
Bougainville crypto regulation rests on national PNG law, which has no licensing or registration regime for VASPs and a Recommendation 15 rating of non-compliant. Central Banking and Currency stay on the National Government list, so the rules for Bougainville are Papua New Guinea’s until powers transfer. The watch list is short: a PNG virtual-asset law from a national committee, which the APG reports is among the recommendations made on the sector risk assessment, and any ABG move under paragraph 89 before the September 1, 2027 deadline.
