Report contents
APAC · Developing
Sri Lanka
Crypto Livability Index 2025·data to 31 Dec 2025
Scoreboard
Five pillars, then the 22 sub-pillars scored 0 to 4. Empty sub-scores are held out of the total, not zeroed.
The number behind the rank
| Raw capability score | 40 / 84 |
| P2P liquidity bonus (tie-breaker) | +1 |
| Inflation 4.9% · unbanked 18% · remittances 6.8% GDP · capital controls 1 · sanctions 0 | CNI 0.310 |
| Need multiplier | ×0.966 |
| Livability score | 0.460 |
Raw 40/84 = 0.476 capability. Crypto-Necessity Index 0.31, from five components: inflation 4.9% (three-year average 2023 to 2025), unbanked 18% of adults, remittances 6.8% of GDP, capital-control intensity 1.00 (KAOPEN 2023), sanctions exposure 0. Need multiplier ×0.97. Livability score 0.460, rank #30 of 79.
Three findings
Need lifts Sri Lanka 28 places, from #58 to #30
The country scores 40/84 on raw capability but climbs to #30 once need is applied, because the demand is structural: a record 8.076 billion dollars in remittances in 2025, a maximum capital-control intensity of 1.00, and an economy still recovering from the 2022 sovereign default. The capability is thin, but the necessity is among the highest the index measures.
USDT has become an unofficial parallel dollar
With banks barred from processing crypto and cards blocked under the Foreign Exchange Act, USDT moves over informal LKR peer-to-peer rails to circumvent currency controls. The country's third National Risk Assessment identifies USDT as a preferred payment method widely used to bypass foreign-exchange limits, functioning as a parallel dollar channel rather than a speculative instrument.
A grey zone the central bank has now confirmed in writing
In October 2025 the central-bank governor publicly clarified that holding and trading crypto is not illegal, even as everyday transactional use remains prohibited. The November 2025 Bybit Pay launch with CeyPay onboarded 100 merchant activations across Colombo, Kandy and tourist zones inside the cutoff, the most important spending upgrade in its band.
In one line
"In a country still rebuilding from default, a stablecoin is not speculation. It is how a worker abroad gets dollars past the currency controls and into a family's hands at home."
Watch in 2026
Trajectory 3/4, trending liberalising. The securities regulator is drafting a VASP framework, the central-bank governor's October 2025 statement confirmed crypto is legally permitted, and the 2025 budget clarified VAT treatment. If a 2026 licensing framework ships and major exchanges gain LKR onboarding, the remittance-corridor signal could strengthen quickly from its current thin base.