Serbia’s Law on Digital Assets is the country’s core statute for crypto and digital-asset activity. Published as RS Official Gazette No. 153/2020, it entered into force on December 29, 2020, and applies from June 29, 2021. The law is in force as of July 27, 2026, and it establishes a framework for issuance, secondary trading, service-provider licensing, AML/CFT controls, market-abuse rules, and supervision by the National Bank of Serbia and the Securities Commission.
Scope of Serbia’s digital-asset framework
The statute covers the issuance of digital assets and secondary trading in Serbia, the provision of services connected with digital assets, pledge and fiduciary rights over digital assets, regulator competences, and supervision. It defines digital assets, or virtual assets, as a digital representation of value that can be bought, sold, exchanged or transferred digitally and used as a means of exchange or for investment purposes, while excluding fiat currency representations and financial assets governed elsewhere unless the law provides otherwise.
The framework distinguishes between virtual currencies and digital tokens. A virtual currency is a type of digital asset not issued or guaranteed by a central bank or public authority, not necessarily linked to legal tender, and without the legal status of money or currency. A digital token is an intangible property right represented in digital form and may include rights to specific services. The law also applies on a technology-neutral basis, including to stable digital assets.
Supervisory architecture
Serbia uses a split supervisory model. The National Bank of Serbia is responsible for virtual currencies, while the Securities Commission is responsible for digital tokens and digital assets that qualify as financial instruments. For hybrid assets with both virtual-currency and digital-token features, the law applies those competences accordingly, and the two authorities must cooperate.
The National Bank of Serbia states that the law has applied in Serbia since June 2021 and mandates licensing for companies that intend to provide digital-asset services in Serbia. The NBS also states that providing virtual-currency services without prior NBS licensing is unauthorised, prohibited under the Law on Digital Assets, and treated as a criminal offence under Serbia’s Criminal Code.
Key provisions
- Issuance and white papers: The statute provides that digital assets may be issued in Serbia regardless of whether a white paper has been prepared or approved, while advertising of initial offerings is controlled. White papers must give buyers and investors information about the issuer, the asset, the offering, project risks, safeguarding procedures, and AML/CFT compliance.
- Trading venues and secondary markets: Operating a digital-assets trading platform is reserved to licensed digital asset service providers. The law addresses secondary trading, platform transparency, temporary suspension, OTC trading, and smart contracts in secondary trading.
- Market abuse: The statute establishes rules on inside information, prohibits abuse of inside information, restricts improper exchange of inside information, and prohibits market manipulation.
- Service-provider controls: Digital asset service providers must be companies, meet minimum-capital thresholds that vary by service type, appear in electronic registers, follow AML/CFT measures, provide clear and non-misleading user information, operate complaint procedures, and keep transaction records for at least ten years.
Status and timeline
The Serbian National Assembly placed the Government’s digital-assets bill on the agenda of its seventh sitting in December 2020 and adopted the proposal during the voting day on December 17, 2020. Article 146 of the law states that it entered into force on December 29, 2020 and applies from June 29, 2021. For CryptoSlate taxonomy purposes, this is a non-U.S. statute with current status mapped to In force.
Editorial context
The Law on Digital Assets should be read together with implementing regulations issued by the National Bank of Serbia and the Securities Commission. It does not state that digital assets are legal tender, and it expressly notes that Serbian public authorities do not guarantee digital-asset value or accept liability for user, holder, provider, or third-party losses connected with digital-asset transactions. This profile is a legal-reference summary only and is not legal, tax, investment, or trading advice.
