Underground Crypto Market in Myanmar: How People Trade Crypto Despite the Ban

9 September 2025 19 Comments Michael Jones

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Myanmar’s government says cryptocurrency is illegal. But if you walk through the streets of Yangon or Mandalay, you’ll find people whispering about Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT like they’re talking about the weather. The Central Bank of Myanmar banned crypto in 2020. No exchanges. No mining. No legal trading. Yet, the market didn’t die-it went deeper. Today, in 2025, an underground crypto economy thrives, built on trust, WhatsApp groups, Facebook pages, and cash handoffs in back alleys.

How Crypto Survives a Total Ban

The military regime in Myanmar doesn’t just discourage crypto-it punishes it. Under the Foreign Exchange Management Law, anyone caught trading digital assets can face prison time, bank account freezes, and asset seizures. The government doesn’t need to shut down every transaction. It just needs to scare enough people into silence. But fear doesn’t stop need.

For millions of Myanmar citizens, traditional banking is broken. Banks are controlled by the military. International transfers are blocked. Remittances from abroad? Often delayed for weeks or lost entirely. Crypto became the only way out. People aren’t trading for profit. They’re trading to survive.

The system works like this: Someone in Thailand sends USDT to a trader in Myanmar. That trader finds a local buyer through Telegram. The buyer pays cash-real, physical kyat-into the seller’s bank account. The seller then sends the crypto. No paper trail. No exchange. No middleman. Just two people trusting each other enough to risk jail.

The Invisible Infrastructure

There are no official crypto exchanges in Myanmar. But there are dozens of unofficial ones. The biggest? Facebook groups. Telegram channels. TikTok accounts. These aren’t flashy platforms with logos and customer service. They’re just chat rooms with names like “Myanmar Crypto Cash Dealers” or “USDT Buyers Myanmar.”

The most influential group is the Myan Crypto Masters Community (MCM), started by a man known only as Feliz. With over 23,000 members, MCM runs weekly online workshops in Burmese. They teach people how to set up a VPN, how to spot a scam, how to store private keys safely. They don’t sell crypto. They don’t take fees. They just share knowledge. And in a country where crypto education is forbidden, that’s revolutionary.

Traders rely on trusted cash dealers-people with a reputation. You don’t just find someone on Facebook and send money. You ask around. You check references. You test them with small trades first. If you lose $500 because you trusted the wrong person, you don’t call the police. You learn. And you tell others.

Why the Ban Keeps Failing

Why hasn’t the government crushed this market yet? Simple: they can’t monitor it all.

Most transactions are under $100. They happen between friends, neighbors, coworkers. The authorities focus on big players-people moving thousands of dollars a day. But the real power of the underground market is its size. It’s not one big network. It’s thousands of tiny ones. A mother in Naypyidaw sends crypto to her son in Malaysia. A farmer in Shan State buys USDT to pay for medicine. A student in Taunggyi trades Bitcoin to fund their English course.

Even the military’s own officials are rumored to use crypto. Why? Because it’s faster. Cheaper. Untraceable. The ban isn’t about protecting the economy. It’s about control. If people can move money without the state’s permission, the regime loses power.

Compare this to Thailand or Laos. Both countries have clear crypto rules. Exchanges are licensed. Taxes are defined. People feel safe. In Myanmar? You feel like you’re playing Russian roulette every time you open your wallet.

A woman using a laptop with a VPN, hidden mining rig under her bed, and a Telegram chat showing crypto safety tips.

The Risks Are Real

The stories are brutal. In 2022, a so-called “crypto investment scheme” promised 10% daily returns. Thousands of people poured in their life savings. Then, the operators vanished. No one was arrested. No money was returned. Victims had no legal recourse. No court would hear their case. The government didn’t care.

Scams are everywhere. Fake wallets. Fake traders. Fake mining apps. Newcomers are easy targets. Many lose everything on their first try. That’s why MCM’s education matters so much. They teach people: never send crypto to someone you haven’t met in person. always verify the wallet address twice. never use your real name on trading groups.

And then there’s the physical danger. In 2024, authorities raided a home in Hpa-An and seized three mining rigs. The owner, a 28-year-old engineer, was arrested. He spent three months in jail before being released without charge. His equipment was destroyed. His internet was cut. He still trades crypto now-quietly.

Stablecoins Are the Real Currency

Bitcoin? Too volatile. Ethereum? Too slow. In Myanmar, the real crypto is USDT-Tether. It’s pegged to the U.S. dollar. It moves fast. It’s accepted everywhere. People use it to pay for food, rent, even bribes. Some use it to fund political resistance. The Spring Development Bank, run by the National Unity Government (NUG) in exile, uses the Polygon blockchain to send USDT to activists inside Myanmar. It’s not legal. But it’s the only way to get money to people the regime won’t let through.

You won’t find USDT on any official app. You won’t see it advertised. But if you ask someone in Yangon how they pay for their daughter’s university fees, they’ll say: “USDT.”

A military officer failing to smash a multiplying USDT coin while ordinary people quietly use crypto around them.

What Happens When the Regime Falls?

Right now, the military holds power. The ban stays. The underground market grows.

But if civilian rule returns, everything changes. The question won’t be whether to allow crypto. It’ll be how to regulate it. Will they legalize it? Tax it? Ban it again? The underground market has already proven it can’t be erased. The next government will have to decide: Do we try to control it, or do we embrace it?

Some experts think Myanmar could become Southeast Asia’s next crypto hub-if the rules change. Others warn that without proper safeguards, the chaos will only get worse. Either way, the genie is out of the bottle.

How People Are Adapting

You won’t see ads for crypto in Myanmar’s newspapers. But you’ll see it in the way people talk.

- A mother uses USDT to send money to her sister in Singapore. No bank fees. No delays. No middlemen.

- A young entrepreneur buys mining hardware from China, hides it under his bed, and runs it at night when the power’s on.

- A group of students created a Burmese-language podcast about blockchain. It’s downloaded 50,000 times.

- A former bank clerk now works as a cash dealer. He says: “I used to help people move money through the system. Now I help them move money around the system.”

The tools are simple: a phone, a VPN, a trusted contact. The stakes are high: freedom, survival, dignity.

Final Reality

Myanmar’s underground crypto market isn’t a glitch in the system. It’s the system now. The government bans it. The people ignore it. And in the silence between the crackdowns, the market keeps working.

It’s not about speculation. It’s not about getting rich. It’s about having a way out. When the banks won’t let you move money, when the government won’t let you earn, when the world won’t hear you-crypto becomes your voice.

And right now, in Myanmar, that voice is louder than any law.