From Bill to Act: Zim’s Digital Asset Moment — What’s Next and Why It Matters for GDP

By Jabulani Chibaya

HARARE – ZIMBABWE has quietly crossed a major policy threshold. What was once a proposed Bill has now become law, firmly anchoring digital assets, virtual asset service providers (VASPs), and blockchain-enabled innovation within the country’s formal legal and fiscal framework. This transition from legislative intent to enacted Finance Act is more than procedural — it marks Zimbabwe’s entry into a regulated digital asset economy.

For years, crypto activity existed in a grey zone: widely used, poorly defined, and unevenly understood. With the new Act now in force, the State has made its position clear. Digital assets are not banned, nor are they ignored. They are recognised, regulated, taxable, and subject to oversight. This approach aligns Zimbabwe with global best practice: regulation over prohibition, supervision over suppression.

What is now allowed — and encouraged

The Act creates legal certainty for regulated innovation. Virtual Asset Service Providers can now operate openly, provided they meet licensing, AML, consumer protection, and tax compliance requirements. This opens the door for exchanges, custodians, brokers, remittance platforms, tokenisation projects, and blockchain-based financial infrastructure to operate as legitimate economic actors rather than informal participants.

Crucially, this also enables new asset classes to develop responsibly — including tokenised real estate, tokenised funds, digital commodities, and programmable financial instruments. Innovation is no longer theoretical. It can now be built, financed, audited, and scaled within Zimbabwe’s legal system.

Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins — a pragmatic stance

Zimbabwe’s position on crypto assets is measured and strategic. Bitcoin is accepted as a lawful investment asset and store of value, not as legal tender and not as a replacement for sovereign currencies. Ethereum is implicitly more significant, recognised for its role as programmable financial infrastructure — enabling smart contracts, tokenisation, compliance automation, and capital market innovation. Stablecoins are tolerated with caution, viewed as useful settlement and hedging tools, but subject to heightened regulatory and monetary oversight due to their proximity to currency functions.

The message is clear: crypto is allowed, but not anarchic. Innovation is welcome, but not unregulated.

What’s next: institutions, infrastructure, and scale

The next phase will not be driven by speculation, but by institutions. Banks, pension funds, insurers, developers, fintechs, and the Victoria Falls International Financial Centre (VFIFC) now have the legal confidence to explore blockchain use cases in payments, trade finance, real estate, capital markets, and compliance technology. Regulatory sandboxes, structured pilots, and cross-border partnerships are likely to follow.

For founders and investors, the opportunity shifts from short-term trading to long-term value creation: building platforms, rails, and products that integrate into the formal economy.

The GDP question: why this matters economically

Properly implemented, this framework can contribute meaningfully to GDP growth in four ways:

1. Formalisation of an existing informal market, bringing transaction fees, profits, and services into the tax base.

2. Attraction of foreign capital and diaspora flows, especially through tokenised investments and regulated digital platforms.

3. Job creation in high-value digital services — compliance, software, cybersecurity, data, and financial engineering.

4. Productivity gains across sectors, as blockchain reduces friction in payments, settlements, property registration, and cross-border trade.

This is not about hype. It is about economic structure.

Final thought

Zimbabwe has not chosen to fight digital assets — it has chosen to govern them. That choice matters. It signals seriousness to investors, clarity to innovators, and protection to the financial system. The question now is not whether digital assets have a place in Zimbabwe, but how effectively the country converts regulation into real economic growth.

The Act is in force. The framework is set.

The next chapter belongs to builders, institutions, and policymakers who understand that innovation and regulation can — and must — coexist.

Jabulani Simplisio Chibaya is a Data and AI Consultant advising across data science, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and cryptocurrency innovation. He is a conference speaker and writes on the intersection of technology, regulation, and economic development.