Circular No. 4 of 2024: Prohibition on Certain Words Under the VASP Act

Circular No. 4 of 2024
Date: 2nd September 2024
Prohibition on certain words under the Virtual Asset Services Providers Act, 2024 The Financial Services Authority (“FSA”) would like to draw the attention of the public, existing legal entities and other businesses in respect of the commencement of the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2024 (“VASP Act”) as from the 1st September 2024.
Section 40 (2) of the VASP Act prohibits a person, other than a licensee or registrant, to use any name
that includes the following words (or such other combination of the words which could reasonably be used to allude to the services which are licensable under the VASP Act):

• “block chain”
• “cryptocurrency”
• “currency”
• “DeFI”
• “digital wallet”
• “hot/cold wallet”
• “exchange”
• “ICO”
• “NFT”
• “virtual”
• “virtual coin”
• “Web 3”
  Therefore, the public is advised to ensure that the necessary steps are taken in order to remove any reference of the above words (or any combination thereof) from their names, be it their registered business or trade names if there is no intention to be licensed or registered under the VASP Act. Persons who are identified to be in breach of section 40 commits an offence under the VASP Act (and may be subject to a fine or imprisonment, or both) and will be required to effect the necessary changes by the Authority. FINANCIAL SERVICES AUTHORITY