Crypto trading barred
Kuwait
Kuwait's regulators barred using crypto for payment or investment, and crypto mining, in July 2023 and will not license crypto firms, privacy coins included.
The rule
- Exchange listing
- Barred
- Holding by individuals
- Restricted
- Mixers
- No specific rule
- Self-hosted wallets
- Not checked
- In force from
- 18 Jul 2023
- Confidence
- Reported
Dates: the rule has been in force since 18 Jul 2023.
Cointelegraph reported that a Capital Markets Authority circular of 18 July 2023 on the supervision and issuance of virtual assets set an 'absolute prohibition' on using virtual assets for payment or investment and on crypto mining, and that Kuwaiti regulators may not license firms to provide virtual asset services as a business; the Central Bank of Kuwait, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Insurance Regulatory Unit reportedly issued similar circulars. Securities and other financial instruments regulated by the central bank and the authority are excluded. The Law Library of Congress had earlier recorded a Central Bank of Kuwait press release of 18 January 2018 under which financial institutions are prohibited from dealing in cryptocurrencies. We could not open the circular itself, so whether it binds individuals as well as regulated firms is not confirmed and holding is classed here as restricted; no rule found names privacy coins or mixers.
Instrument: Capital Markets Authority circular on the supervision and issuance of virtual assets, 18 July 2023, with parallel circulars from other Kuwaiti regulators
Sources
Exchanges and their restrictions
The 14 exchanges on this site, with the 32 spot markets they list for the seven coins, as checked on 13 Oct 2026. The exchange data records where each listing is restricted as text, so this page quotes each passage that names Kuwait, and marks the cells it comes from. An exchange with no such passage has no restriction for Kuwait on record here, which does not mean that it is licensed there or open to its residents. A listing is not an endorsement.
Swipe the table sideways to see all seven coins.
| Exchange | ZECZcashSpot on 11, perp only on 1 | XMRMoneroSpot on 6, perp only on 3 | DCRDecredSpot on 6 | ZANOZanoSpot on 1 | ARRRPirate ChainSpot on 2 | XVGVergeSpot on 4, perp only on 3 | FIROFiroSpot on 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binance | Restricted +perpApr 2025Shielded in: noShielded out: no | DelistedFeb 2024Perp only | RestrictedApr 2025 | Never listed | Never listed | Listed +perpWithdrawals frozen | DelistedApr 2025 |
| Coinbase | Listed +perpNov 2018Shielded in: yesShielded out: no | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed |
| Kraken | Restricted +perpJun 2026Shielded in: unknownShielded out: no | Restricted +perpJun 2026 | RestrictedMay 2026 | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed |
| OKX | Listed +perpNov 2025Shielded in: unknownShielded out: unknown | DelistedJan 2024 | DelistedJul 2024 | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed |
| Bybit | DelistedFeb 2025Perp only | Never listedPerp only | DelistedNov 2024 | Never listed | Never listed | Never listedPerp only | Never listed |
| Bitget | Listed +perpDec 2025Shielded in: unknownShielded out: unknown | Never listedPerp only | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listedPerp only | Never listed |
| KuCoin | Listed +perpJul 2019Shielded in: unknownShielded out: no | Listed +perpMar 2019 | ListedSep 2018 | Never listed | DelistedSep 2023 | Never listedPerp only | Never listed |
| Gate | Listed +perpShielded in: unknownShielded out: unknown | Restricted +perp | Listed | Never listed | ListedWithdrawals frozen | Restricted | Restricted |
| HTX | Listed +perpDec 2022Shielded in: noShielded out: no | Listed +perpDec 2022 | ListedDec 2022 | Never listed | Never listed | ListedDec 2022 | DelistedSep 2025 |
| MEXC | Listed +perpShielded in: unknownShielded out: unknown | Listed +perp | Listed | ListedDec 2023 | ListedJan 2024 | Listed +perp | Listed |
| Gemini | RestrictedMay 2018Shielded in: yesShielded out: yes | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed |
| Bitfinex | Listed +perpOct 2016Withdrawals frozenShielded in: unknownShielded out: unknown | ListedNov 2016 | DelistedMar 2022 | Never listed | Never listed | DelistedDec 2024 | Never listed |
| Crypto.com | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed |
| Upbit | DelistedSep 2019 | DelistedSep 2019 | DelistedDec 2020 | Never listed | Never listed | DelistedMay 2020 | DelistedMay 2020 |
Passages that name Kuwait
No passage of the exchange data names Kuwait.
Self-hosted wallets for the seven coins
The nine wallets on the Wallets page that hold at least one of the seven coins, with the coins and platforms each supports. The wallet data does not record where each wallet is offered, so this list is the same on every country page, and Kuwait's own rules, set out above, apply to their use. A listing is not an endorsement.