According to an Ethiopian report, Ethiopia’s cybersecurity organization, the Information Network Security Administration (INSA), has begun to register cryptocurrency service providers operating in the country. A law that allowed the reinstatement of the INSA was amended to allow the agency to be able to register crypto businesses.
The cybersecurity agency now has the authority to regulate cryptographic products and associated transactions under the modified law. The INSA is also entrusted with creating operating procedures and the cryptographic infrastructure as the designated Root Certificate Authority.
This has come a few months after the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), the nation’s national bank, forbade its citizens from utilizing cryptocurrencies. As reported in June, the NBE encouraged people to report cryptocurrency transactions in addition to issuing a warning against using them to make payments.
However, despite the NBE’s hostile stance towards cryptocurrencies, the INSA is quoted advising crypto service providers operating in the country to heed its registration call.
The agency said, “There is interest among individuals and entities in providing crypto services including mining and transfer. Therefore, to properly regulate this field, INSA has begun to register individuals and entities that are involved in crypto operations (services) including transfer and or mining.”
Furthermore, crypto service providers have been granted a ten-day period in which they must complete the registration process. The INSA said necessary legal measures will be taken against entities that fail to comply.