For years, the word has been frightening. « Crypto. Too technical for some, too sulphurous for others. However, behind the smoke of soaring and then falling prices, there is a very real economic reality: investment opportunities, a breeding ground for innovation, payment uses… and a global regulatory project that is making great strides.
Morocco, too, is preparing its own framework. A draft law on crypto-assets has just been made public, opening up a long-awaited debate: should we regulate to better protect or to better control?
A law under close scrutiny
Officially, the text aims to « create a secure environment » for the use of digital assets. In reality, it is more like a legal firewall, designed to prevent abuses before encouraging innovation. Drawn up by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Bank Al-Maghrib and the Moroccan Capital Market Authority (AMMC), it finally recognizes crypto-assets, but still excludes crypto-currencies from the status of means of payment.
A crypto-asset is a digital value – such as a virtual share or bond – that can be held, exchanged or resold. A crypto-currency, on the other hand, is used to pay for a purchase or transfer money. The text carefully draws a red line: it may be possible to invest, but not to pay.
« There’s no boldness: we want to frame without fully recognizing usage », regrets Badr Bellaj, an expert in blockchain and cryptocurrencies. In his view, the preliminary draft is a « Moroccanized » and more cautious version of the European MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) regulation: same classification of digital assets, same licensing requirement for platforms, but a much narrower scope.
The contrast can be seen above all in the treatment of stablecoins, the so-called « stable » cryptocurrencies because they are backed by a real currency (such as the euro or the dollar) and whose value varies very little. In Europe, some of them can be used as a means of payment, provided they are issued by approved institutions and subject to strict controls. In Morocco, however, tokens are considered as mere financial assets, not as instruments of exchange. Even a token purchase in bitcoin or USDT – a popular stablecoin pegged to the US dollar – remains illegal.
The only opening remains theoretical: since 2022, Bank Al-Maghrib has been studying the long-term possibility of a digital dirham issued by the central bank – a sovereign alternative to private cryptocurrencies, still at the thinking stage.
The tree that hides the forest
Yet the need for a framework is very real. According to the latest Chainalysis report, Morocco ranks 24th in the world for cryptocurrency adoption, and first in the Maghreb. A study by the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS) already estimated the number of Moroccans holding cryptocurrencies at 1.15 million in 2022 (around 3% of the population).
Despite the ban, usage has taken root: money transfers, alternative savings, micro-investment… all practices often supported by foreign platforms or informal networks. In other words, the country is now trying to regulate a market that is already out of its control.
« Today, we don’t have a crypto industry in Morocco, only a black market. Project holders are leaving for other countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, due to the lack of a clear framework. »
« Today, we don’t have a crypto industry in Morocco, only a black market. Project developers are leaving for other countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, due to the lack of a clear framework. Yet there is a reality: crypto payments, transfers and exchanges are already circulating. The real question is whether our institutions will finally allow this industry to emerge, instead of letting it flourish in the shadows, » said Badr Bellaj.
Therein lies the paradox: regulation designed to protect, but which risks marginalizing those it claims to protect. Behind the figures, there are stories – those of a connected youth, of entrepreneurs and expatriates who circumvent the dirham’s borders thanks to digital assets. For them, crypto is not a gamble, but a response to the limitations of the traditional banking system.
Lives behind wallets
Youssef, 27, a computer engineer, started buying bitcoin during confinement. « At first, it was out of curiosity, » he explains. Then I realized that I could send and receive money from Europe without going through Western Union or suffering exchange rates. »
Today, he no longer speculates, he secures. In addition to his job, he carries out freelance projects for foreign clients, whom he chooses to get paid in cryptocurrency. His income is then converted into stablecoins, which he keeps on a digital key. When he travels in Europe, this solution enables him to resell them via local platforms, often with the help of friends and family, to recover the equivalent in euros.
Khalid, a finance executive, sees it as a parallel way of saving. Every month, he invests a small sum in cryptocurrency. « I don’t trust bank products, the rates are low. Here, it’s risky, but at least I decide. » Aware of the ban, he assumes his choice: « I tell myself that sooner or later, it will be authorized. I might as well not miss out on savings opportunities while everyone else is waiting. »
Between long-term investors and occasional users, entire communities continue to exchange advice and tutorials on the networks to navigate this gray area.
Who wins, who loses?
Faced with this informal effervescence, the text provides a comprehensive legal framework for the first time. But it’s a framework designed above all to reassure regulators, not to support usage. The draft introduces a clear distinction between authorized players and those who will remain on the sidelines.
Crypto-asset service providers – exchange platforms, portfolio managers or transfer operators – will now be required to obtain AMMC approval. Issuers of utility tokens, meanwhile, will have to publish a white paper detailing the risks and conditions of issuance, endorsed by the regulator. Finally, all matters relating to stablecoins and the monetary dimension will be the responsibility of Bank Al-Maghrib, the only body empowered to authorize or supervise this type of instrument.
This architecture seems coherent on paper, but it reinforces the vertical nature of the system: only established institutions – banks, finance companies, international platforms – will have the means to meet the conditions imposed. Licensing requirements, capital thresholds and governance arrangements effectively exclude local start-ups and independents.
Bellaj sees the birth of a two-speed ecosystem, where « the big players will be comforted, » while ordinary users will remain confined to the margins, with no legal access.
However, he acknowledges a major achievement: « The text puts an end to regulatory ambiguity. We are finally moving from uncertainty to visibility, an essential ingredient if a genuine crypto-asset industry is to emerge in Morocco. This clarity can attract foreign investment and encourage major platforms to set up operations in the country, or even make it a regional base for Africa.«
Under the seal of mistrust
Added to this is the KYC (Know Your Customer) dimension and the fight against money laundering. The text requires systematic identification of each customer, traceability of all flows and reporting of operations deemed suspicious.
Even low-value transactions will have to indicate the sender and recipient. This rigorous approach exceeds European standards, where a threshold of one thousand euros limits this obligation. Officially, the aim is to prevent the financing of terrorism; in practice, this vigilance reflects the Moroccan regulator’s long-standing mistrust of a world that has emerged outside government control.
But this model leaves little room for self-custody, the founding principle that enables each user to hold his or her crypto-assets directly, without an intermediary. The text ignores it almost entirely, favoring custody by authorized entities. It’s a view that Bellaj considers symptomatic: « We’re refocusing trust in financial institutions, instead of building it in technology.«
By seeking to control, Morocco protects itself, but it also closes itself off. The preliminary draft responds to the demand for clarity expressed by international regulators – the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Financial Stability Board (FSB) – while leaving out those who have brought this market into being: individuals, small businesses and local innovators.
A global market under stress
Elsewhere in the world, cryptocurrencies continue to arouse fascination and concern in equal measure. After a historic bull run, driven by the massive influx of institutional investors and the approval of the first bitcoin and ether index funds (ETFs), the market experienced an abrupt reversal in the autumn of 2025.
Bitcoin, which had topped the $125,000 mark in July, fell back below the $100,000 mark in November, weighed down by monetary and geopolitical uncertainties. According to analysts, this correction marks the sector’s entry into a mature phase: less speculative, more regulated, but also more exposed to the rules of the game of traditional financial markets.
This « normalization » is accompanied by another phenomenon: the rise of risk. According to the US Federal Trade Commission, losses from scams involving cryptocurrencies reached $12.5 billion in 2024, up 25% in one year.
« Financial education and transparency are better than prohibition »
Behind these figures are thousands of duped users, often lured in by promises of quick returns. The authorities have responded by tightening identity verification (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) requirements, turning what was once a digital Wild West into a supervised territory.
However, these excesses have not slowed the growth of the global market. Everywhere, trading volumes continue to grow, institutional investment is increasing, and regulators are seeking not to curb, but to channel. Because risk is not unique to crypto: it exists in all financial innovations. The difference lies in the maturity of the players and the ability of governments to educate rather than punish.
« Financial education and transparency are better than prohibition« , says Bellaj. In his view, it’s by democratizing access and empowering users that crypto can become a lever for development, not a threat. Conversely, locking out a nascent market too early would condemn the country to watching from the outside.
Written in French by Safae Hadri; Edited in English by AngloMedia Group.
