National Bank of Cambodia Crypto Ban: What’s Really Happening in 2025

When you hear "Cambodia banned crypto," it sounds like a total shutdown. But if you dig deeper, the story isn’t that simple. As of late 2025, the National Bank of Cambodia hasn’t outlawed cryptocurrency - it’s trying to control it. The real move wasn’t a ban. It was a redirection.

What Actually Got Banned?

In November 2024, Cambodia’s Telecommunications Regulator blocked 16 major overseas crypto exchanges, including Binance and Coinbase. Over 102 domains were shut down. For users in Cambodia, that meant suddenly being unable to load those sites. Binance alone had around 200,000 Cambodian users at the time. Overnight, access vanished.

But here’s the catch: the ban didn’t target crypto itself. It targeted unlicensed platforms. The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) made it clear: if you want to operate crypto services in Cambodia, you need official permission. No exceptions. The move wasn’t about stopping people from trading. It was about stopping them from trading where the government couldn’t see.

The Real Goal: Control, Not Elimination

Cambodia didn’t wake up one day and decide crypto was evil. The NBC had been warning about unregulated crypto since 2018. But enforcement was weak. People kept using offshore exchanges because they were cheaper, faster, and had more coins. Meanwhile, the Cambodian riel struggled against dollarization. Banks weren’t reaching rural areas. Fraud rings were thriving - some even linked to forced labor camps, as U.S. prosecutors exposed in October 2024.

So the NBC shifted strategy. Instead of fighting crypto, they decided to own it. They created a two-tier system under Prakas B7-024-735 Prokor, issued in December 2024 and effective in early 2025.

Group 1 assets: tokenized securities and approved stablecoins. These are backed, regulated, and low-risk. Think digital dollars tied to real money.

Group 2 assets: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin - the wild ones. Unbacked, volatile, high-risk. Banks can’t hold these on their balance sheets. Period.

The goal? Let people use crypto - but only the kind that doesn’t threaten the riel or the banking system.

Who Can Still Offer Crypto Services?

Here’s where it gets interesting. Banks aren’t banned from crypto entirely. They just can’t trade it for themselves. But they can help their customers do it - if they get NBC approval.

Authorized banks can now offer:

• On-ramping and off-ramping (turning riel into crypto and back)
• Custody services (holding your crypto securely)
• Exchange services for approved assets (Group 1 only)

It’s like a licensed taxi service. You can’t drive your own car to pick up fares without a permit. But if you get the permit, you can legally drive people around.

Only two platforms have that permit so far: Royal Group Exchange (RGX) and Cambodian Network Exchange (CNX). These are the only legal places in Cambodia to trade crypto. All others? Blocked. No exceptions.

Bakong: The Real Winner

You can’t understand Cambodia’s crypto rules without talking about Bakong. Launched in 2020 with help from Japan, Bakong is Cambodia’s own digital payment system. It’s not a full CBDC - it’s more like a blockchain-backed digital wallet linked to your bank account. You can send money instantly between banks, pay at shops, even transfer to friends - all in riel.

By 2024, over 65% of Cambodians were using Bakong. That’s massive for a developing economy. And it’s working. People are moving away from cash. The riel is gaining ground against the U.S. dollar.

Crypto wasn’t just a threat to banks - it was a threat to Bakong. If people were using Bitcoin to pay for groceries, why would they use Bakong? Why would they hold riel at all?

So the NBC’s crypto rules aren’t just about fraud or money laundering. They’re about protecting a national digital infrastructure that’s already saving millions of people from financial exclusion.

Why the Ban Isn’t Working (Yet)

Here’s the problem: people are still getting around the ban.

VPNs are cheap. Many Cambodians already use them to bypass internet censorship. Crypto traders? They’re not giving up. They’re just switching to private peer-to-peer networks, Telegram groups, or using offshore wallets with local cash agents.

Legal analysts point out the ban’s biggest flaw: it ignores human behavior. If you block the highway, people build dirt roads. The NBC knows this. That’s why they’re not just blocking - they’re building alternatives.

The two licensed exchanges need to compete. Can RGX and CNX offer lower fees than Binance? Faster withdrawals? Better customer support? So far, no one knows. But if they can’t, the ban becomes a paper wall.

What’s Next for Cambodia’s Crypto?

The NBC is still working on the next phase. Rules for licensing Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs) haven’t been published yet. Banks are waiting on clear guidelines before offering services. The regulatory sandbox is still open - but only for those who play by the rules.

Experts expect stablecoins to grow fast. If a bank can offer a riel-backed digital token that works like cash but moves instantly, people might prefer it over Bitcoin. That’s the real endgame: not banning crypto, but replacing it with something better - something the government controls.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s crackdown on crypto fraud rings in Cambodia also shows this isn’t just about money. It’s about sovereignty. When criminal networks use crypto to run scams from Cambodian compounds, it damages the country’s global reputation. The NBC is trying to clean that up.

What This Means for You

If you’re in Cambodia and want to trade crypto:

• You can’t use Binance, Coinbase, or any other offshore exchange - they’re blocked.
• You can only trade on RGX or CNX - the two licensed platforms.
• You can’t buy Bitcoin through your bank unless it’s approved for Group 1 assets (and right now, Bitcoin isn’t one).
• You can use your bank to convert riel to stablecoins - if your bank is approved.

If you’re outside Cambodia and wondering if this is a warning sign for other countries? Yes. Cambodia’s approach - controlled licensing, not blanket bans - is becoming a model for Southeast Asia. Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia are watching closely.

This isn’t a crypto apocalypse. It’s a regulatory experiment. And Cambodia is betting that if you give people a better, safer, government-backed option, they’ll choose it - even if it’s not as flashy as Bitcoin.

Is Cambodia’s Crypto Ban Working?

The answer? Not yet - but it’s trying.

The offshore exchange block has reduced traffic to Binance by over 80% in Cambodia, according to network traffic data. But usage hasn’t disappeared. It’s just gone underground.

The real test is whether RGX and CNX can attract users with better service. If they can’t, the ban will look like a failed policy. If they can, Cambodia could become the first country to successfully replace speculative crypto with regulated digital finance - all while protecting its currency and its people.

For now, the NBC is playing the long game. They didn’t ban crypto. They’re rewriting the rules - one licensed platform at a time.