Cayman Islands — crypto regulation

Status: legal · Last reviewed 2026-11-05

Comprehensive VASP regime under the Virtual Asset (Service Providers) Act (2024 Revision), supervised by CIMA. Since Apr 2025, trading platforms and custodians need a full licence rather than registration. Licences have gone to Crypto.com (conditional, Jan 2026) and Blockchain.com (custody, Jul 2026). The 2026 VASP, Mutual Funds and Private Funds Amendment Acts created a bespoke regime for tokenised funds and took tokenised fund interests out of the VASP Act. CIMA counted 19 registered or licensed VASPs in Q3 2026. Popular domicile for crypto funds, DeFi foundations and token issuers.

Legislation

• Virtual Asset (Service Providers) Act, 2020 (Commencement) Order, 2025 (2025)
• Virtual Asset (Service Providers) (Amendment) Act, 2026 (2026)
• Mutual Funds (Amendment) Act, 2026 (Act 5 of 2026) — Tokenised Mutual Funds (2026)
• Private Funds (Amendment) Act, 2026 (Act 6 of 2026) — Tokenised Private Funds (2026)
• CIMA Rule — Effective Compliance Programme for ML/TF/PF Prevention (2026)
• Virtual Asset (Service Providers) Act (2024 Revision) (2020)
• Virtual Asset (Service Providers) Regulations, 2022 (2022)
• Anti-Money Laundering Regulations (2025 Revision) (2025)
• Securities Investment Business Act (2020 Revision) (2020)
• Mutual Funds Act (2025 Revision) (2025)
• Private Funds Act (2025 Revision) (2025)