Jordan

DeFi Intel Research Desk2026-07-14Asia

Is crypto legal in Jordan? (2026)

Yes — cryptocurrency is legal in Jordan. Current status: Legal via JSC-licensed VASPs. Oversight sits with Jordan Securities Commission (JSC). Full details — governing law, licensing, tax and dated enforcement history — follow below (last reviewed 2026-07-14).

Framework: The Virtual Assets Transactions Regulation Law No. 14 of 2025 took effect on 14 September 2025, giving Jordan its first comprehensive legal framework for virtual assets and making the Jordan Securities Commission (JSC) the licensing and supervisory authority for virtual asset service providers.

Law No. 14 reverses more than a decade of prohibition: since 2014 the Central Bank of Jordan had barred banks and financial institutions from dealing in cryptocurrencies, pushing activity into unregulated peer-to-peer channels and offshore exchange accounts. Under the new law, no entity may engage in virtual-asset activities without a JSC licence; the framework covers cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum as well as stablecoins and NFTs, and licensed platforms may integrate with the banking system for Jordanian-dinar deposits. Subsidiary licensing regulations set out four licence categories — platform operator/manager, custodian, trading broker, and financial-services provider for virtual-asset offerings — with tiered minimum paid-up capital by category under the enacted Regulation No. 94 of 2025 — custody carries the highest requirement at JOD 2,000,000, platform operator/manager JOD 1,500,000, and trading brokers and offering-service providers JOD 500,000 each (cumulative where a licensee holds more than one category; figures per the JSC's official capital schedule, with amounts in secondary summaries varying slightly). VASPs sit squarely under Jordan's Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Law, with customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, travel-rule implementation and suspicious-transaction reporting to the Anti-Money Laundering Unit (AMLU); unlicensed activity carries fines and imprisonment.

Tax treatment

Crypto-specific tax guidance was not among the sources verified for this profile. Treatment of virtual-asset gains under Jordan's income-tax framework is pending verification — consult the Income and Sales Tax Department or a local adviser before transacting.

• Capital-gains rate (crypto): Pending verification
• Holding-period rule: Pending verification

Travel rule applicability

Status: applicable. Licensed VASPs must implement the FATF travel rule as part of the AML/CFT obligations attached to Law No. 14 of 2025, alongside customer due diligence, transaction monitoring and suspicious-transaction reporting to the AMLU. Specific transfer-data thresholds are pending verification.

Notable enforcement actions

• 2014. The Central Bank of Jordan prohibited banks and financial institutions from dealing in cryptocurrencies — a restriction that stood for over a decade and drove trading into P2P networks (WhatsApp/Telegram cash deals) and offshore exchange accounts.
• 2025. Law No. 14 of 2025 took effect on 14 September 2025, replacing prohibition with JSC licensing; unlicensed virtual-asset activity is now punishable by fines and imprisonment. No post-law public enforcement actions had been verified by DeFi Intel as of 14 July 2026.

Public licensed CASP list

The Jordan Securities Commission is the licensing authority under Law No. 14 of 2025. With the regime effective only since 14 September 2025 and subsidiary licensing regulations still bedding in, DeFi Intel had not verified any publicly announced JSC virtual-asset licences as of 14 July 2026 — consult the JSC (jsc.gov.jo) for live licensing status.

Comparison to neighbours

Compare Jordan crypto regulation with three geographically adjacent jurisdictions:

Doing business in Jordan — practical notes

Market entry requires a JSC licence in one of the four defined categories, a local presence and full AML/CFT compliance (CDD, monitoring, travel rule, STRs to the AMLU); tiered minimum paid-up capital applies by activity under Regulation No. 94 of 2025 (custody the highest at JOD 2,000,000, platform operator/manager JOD 1,500,000, brokers and offering-service providers JOD 500,000). The decade-old banking restrictions are being unwound — licensed platforms are expected to access Jordanian-dinar banking rails, which had been the binding constraint for local operators. Verify current JSC licensing rules before structuring.

Methodology and sources

This profile was researched and updated by DeFi Intel's research desk on 2026-07-14 from the primary and secondary sources listed below. Claims that could not be verified against a source are omitted or marked pending — we do not republish unverified third-party datasets. Submit corrections and primary-source links to research@defi-intel.com.

Sources

• Library of Congress (In Custodia Legis) — recent virtual-asset legal developments in UAE, Jordan and Morocco
• Transnet — how Jordanians trade crypto: banking restrictions and the 2025 law
• Lightspark country brief — Jordan compliance overview (Law No. 14 of 2025)
• Interlegal — virtual assets and AML/CTF in Jordan (licence categories and capital thresholds)
• Lawzana — Jordan 2025 Virtual Assets Law overview