Digital-asset framework covering issuance, digital-asset service providers and Bitcoin-related activities. This page sets out the authorisations a stablecoin business needs in El Salvador, who grants each one and what it covers, alongside how many companies hold them today. The figures come from the registers Anvesan reads and are updated as those registers change.
RegulatorComisión Nacional de Activos Digitales (CNAD)
Authorisations in El Salvador, as at 2 November 2026
Authorisations160across 3 licence families
Licensed148of 160 authorisations
In the pipeline0No live applications
Ended12Refused, withdrawn or lapsed
Authorisations by licence
CNAD digital asset service provider registration63%101
CNAD digital asset issuer registration34%54
CNAD stablecoin issuer registration3%5
These 160 authorisations belong to 142 companies. The company-level records are in Atlas Pro.
What those authorisations permit
Issuing a stablecoin5
Holding assets for clients101
Moving value for clients101
Scope not stated in the licence54
One authorisation can cover several activities, so these figures overlap.
The licences: who grants them, how long, what they cost
The statutory clock is the formal decision period, where the regulator publishes one. “Observed” is the real-world timeline reported by applicants, not a figure the regulator sets. Capital is the regulatory minimum, not legal or advisory fees. Where a figure is not yet available, we show “Unavailable”; where one exists but Anvesan has not verified it, we show “Not sourced”.
The Atlas column maps a licence to a tracked licence family only where the two are the same thing. Where they are not, it reads Not mapped, and the family counts are in Authorisations by licence above.
CNAD digital asset service provider registration
101 in the Atlas
Who grants it
Comisión Nacional de Activos Digitales (CNAD)
What triggers it
Held for holding assets for clients, moving value for clients, by the permissions recorded on the authorisations themselves.
Legal basis
Not sourced
Statutory clockNot published
CNAD does not publish a decision period. Registration runs in two steps, a pre-registration and then a definitive registration. Anvesan has not established a statutory deadline, so we do not infer one.
What it takes in practice3 to 6 months
End to end for a well-prepared applicant, from forming the entity through pre-registration to definitive registration.
Minimum authorised capitalCNAD may require more after a technical analysis of the planned activities
US$2,000
CNAD raises the figure case by case after a technical analysis of the activities applied for, so US$2,000 is a floor rather than a working number.
Application fee US$5,475 initial registration fee, payable within 10 days of a favourable resolution. Annual supervision US$3,650.
Companies in the free Atlas
20 of the 142 companies with an authorisation in El Salvador are in the free Atlas.
Regulatory changes only: what is being decided, by whom, and when. Company-level licence changes are tracked in Atlas Pro. Reviewed 10 September 2026.
Recently landed
August 2025In force
The Investment Banking Law opened a second route
El Salvador passed a dedicated Investment Banking Law in August 2025, creating a separate regulated pathway for institutional digital-asset banking alongside the CNAD registration on this page.
What changes An institutional business now has a choice of route. The CNAD registration remains the one this page tracks.
El Salvador Investment Banking Law, August 2025
Questions this page answers
How many companies hold a stablecoin-related licence in El Salvador?
Atlas tracks 160 authorisations across 142 companies in El Salvador, read from official registers and checked on 2 November 2026. Of those, 148 are licensed, 0 are in the pipeline, and 12 have ended.
Who regulates stablecoins in El Salvador?
Comisión Nacional de Activos Digitales (CNAD).
What licence does a stablecoin business need in El Salvador?
This page lists one authorisation, with the regulator that grants it and what triggers the requirement.
How long does a licence take in El Salvador, and what capital does it need?
It depends which authorisation. The licence table carries the statutory decision period where a law sets one, the timeline applicants report in practice, and the minimum capital for each. Where a regime is not yet in force, we show “Unavailable”.
How these numbers are made
Registers read
The official registers used for this regime, named in the Registers read line. Where a public register does not provide a record, the source is identified separately.
Cadence
Checked daily. Changes are recorded when they appear in the register, together with the date they were seen. Last checked 2 November 2026.
Licence detail reviewed
10 September 2026. Counts are refreshed daily. Licence terms, timelines and capital thresholds are reviewed separately because they come from the underlying rules rather than the register.
Known gap
“Unavailable” means the figure does not yet exist or has not been published. “Not sourced” means the figure exists but Anvesan has not yet verified it. Neither is estimated.