Myanmar’s Ministry of Commerce has said it does not grant e-commerce registration certificates for online trading of gold. According to a report published by the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar (GNLM) on 8 October 2026, the ministry’s statement covers gold, gold jewellery, and artistic works and accessories made of gold, and gives “the possibility of speculation” and the aim of preventing “market instability” as the reasons. A day later, The Irrawaddy (9 October 2026) reported a harsher picture: that the ministry has stopped renewing expired permits, and that enforcement is expected to begin at the end of October. The two reports describe the same decision in different terms, and that gap is the most interesting part of this story.
Sources for this article: GNLM, 8 October 2026, The Irrawaddy, 9 October 2026, and One News, 9 October 2026. We could not find the ministry’s original notice online, so everything below rests on these reports.
What exactly did the Commerce Ministry say?
GNLM carries the ministry’s statement most directly. It says online business registration has been allowed since October 2023, but that online trading of gold, gold jewellery, and artistic works and accessories made of gold has not been granted registration certificates, “on the grounds of possibility of speculation and in an attempt to prevent from market instability.” One News, reporting a day later, describes the ministry as saying it will not issue certificates to businesses selling gold, raw gold, or gold-based jewellery and products, and as worried that online gold trading could destabilise gold prices and the market.
There is one carve-out. Per GNLM, the certificate remains available to gem traders who can show a gemstone trading licence from Myanma Gems Enterprise (which sits under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, MONREC) and who sign an acknowledgement letter promising not to sell gold or gold items online. One News reports the same exception.
A note on scope: The Irrawaddy writes that the ministry suspended licences for selling gold, raw gold, jewellery, “art objects, and household items” through online platforms. That is The Irrawaddy’s phrasing. GNLM’s wording limits the artistic works and accessories to those made of gold, and we follow the ministry’s wording here. Whether household items are affected at all is not supported by the ministry statement as reported by GNLM.
Is this a new ban, or an old rule restated?
This is the question the coverage does not settle. GNLM’s framing is that gold sellers “haven’t been granted” certificates. That reads like a description of how the registration system has worked, possibly a clarification of an existing position, rather than an announcement of a new prohibition. The Irrawaddy’s framing is a suspension of licence issuance, and, citing industry insiders, a refusal to extend permits that have already expired. That reads like a change of practice.
Both can be partly true. A ministry can say “we have never granted these” while quietly declining renewals for sellers who got through earlier, and a statement released now could be aimed at the second group. But the reports do not tell us how many gold sellers actually hold certificates today, when (or whether) any were issued for gold, or whether this is a new directive. We could not find an official count of eComReg registrants. Until the original notice surfaces, “new ban” and “restatement” should both be treated as unconfirmed.
One possibility worth raising as a question, not a finding: the official eComReg explainer on commerce.gov.mm says certificates are valid for two years, and the system began issuing them on 2 October 2023. If any gold sellers were certified in the first wave, their certificates would have reached the end of their validity from October 2025 onward. That would be consistent with The Irrawaddy’s report about expired permits not being extended, but nothing in the reporting confirms the link.
What does the Irrawaddy add, and what is still unverified?
The Irrawaddy’s report contains several claims we cannot confirm elsewhere, so we attribute all of them to that outlet:
- It says more than 700 businesses have applied for licences to sell gold and jewellery online in recent years, and that the ministry refused to extend expired permits.
- It says inspections and enforcement are expected to begin at the end of October.
- It says unlicensed traders face prosecution under the 2013 Essential Commodities and Services Law, with penalties of six months to three years in prison and fines of up to 500,000 kyats (about US$240).
- It says online sellers need a Commerce Ministry licence and that gold and gemstone dealers also need a MONREC permit.
- It says online gold and jewellery shopping has grown popular, with outlets hiring actors and celebrities for livestream sales, and that traders link the clampdown to complaints that jewellery bought in livestream “flash sales” was later rejected by pawnshops or gold shops.
- It quotes a Yangon jeweller: “Online customers have no way of verifying the weight, quality, or reference price of their purchases. That leads to disputes and losses.”
- It reports that last month Mandalay police announced the arrest of 11 foreign nationals and 17 Myanmar citizens accused of online gemstone scams that used fake jade in livestream sales. We found no independent report of this, so treat it as The Irrawaddy’s account only.
The penalty range is consistent with background we can check. Law firm Tilleke & Gibbins’s 2023 explainer says the Commerce Ministry issued Notifications 49, 50 and 51 of 2023 on 21 July 2023; Notification 50 classified online retail as an essential service and required registration, with failure punishable by six months to three years in prison and a fine of up to MMK 500,000. Notification 51 set a two-year, renewable certificate, required sellers to disclose what they sell and to hold any licence the goods require, and allowed the Department of Trade to refuse, suspend or revoke. Our reading is that this last power would already give the ministry a basis for a carve-out like this one, without a new law, though the reports do not say which provision it relied on.
Why gold, and why does it matter beyond jewellers?
The ministry’s stated worry is speculation and market instability. The Irrawaddy offers a number that shows why that might matter to the authorities: it cites the Yangon Region Gold Entrepreneurs Association’s reference price for 24-karat gold at 7.1 million kyats per tical, while the market price exceeds 10 million kyats, a gap of roughly 3 million. It adds that before the 2021 coup a tical sold for under 1.4 million kyats. These are The Irrawaddy’s figures, not ours.
If those figures are right, gold prices have risen roughly sevenfold in kyat terms since the coup, and a visible market price that runs far above the official reference price is awkward for the authorities. Our reading, which is opinion rather than reporting, is that online gold sales make that gap harder to ignore: livestreams show prices to a mass audience in real time, and buyers compare. The ministry has not said that is its motive, and the official reasoning is the generic “speculation” one. But the stated reason is about price control, not only about fraud, and that distinction matters when you judge what the rule will and will not fix.
Will the ban solve the consumer problem it points to?
The consumer complaints are plausible on their face. Weight and purity are hard to verify from a video, and jewellery that a pawnshop later refuses is a real loss for a buyer. The quote from the Yangon jeweller describes a real structural weakness. But a flat ban on registration is a blunt answer. Alternatives that address the same complaint, such as requiring hallmarking or assay certificates, mandatory return windows, or seller identity checks, would target the fraud without closing the channel. We do not know whether the ministry considered those; the reports do not say.
There is also a gap between a registration ban and an actual ban on selling. Online gold sales of the kind The Irrawaddy describes run on livestreams, where registration was always something a seller had to apply for rather than something a platform checked. Enforcement depends on inspectors finding unregistered sellers, and the reports do not say how that will be done, or whether platforms such as Facebook or TikTok will be asked to take down livestreams. We found no source on that.
How does this fit the wider tightening of digital commerce?
It is one of several recent moves that squeeze online commerce. A week earlier we covered reported restrictions on TikTok in Myanmar, and in September we covered a reported central bank order restricting K-Pay, Wave Money and other payment apps from working overseas. Livestream selling relies on exactly those two things, a social platform with a large audience and a way to pay. Elsewhere in ASEAN, platforms have been courting small online sellers, as with TikTok Shop’s 2025 regional SME programme; Myanmar’s rules are now pointing the other way.
The pattern across these items is that the registration system, which the ministry’s own explainer presents as a consumer-protection measure, is now being used as a lever to decide which product categories may be sold online at all. This is the first category carve-out we have seen from eComReg, though we have not audited every ministry notice, and the original statement is not available to check. Business owners quoted by The Irrawaddy warn that the ban will hurt the digital commerce and marketing that grew during the pandemic. One trader is quoted as saying: “Shops that relied on livestream promotions will struggle. Now we can only depend on walk-in customers.”
Frequently asked questions
Is online gold selling banned in Myanmar?
The Commerce Ministry says it does not grant e-commerce registration certificates for online trading of gold, gold jewellery, and artistic works and accessories made of gold (GNLM, 8 October 2026). The Irrawaddy (9 October 2026) reports it as a suspension of licence issuance and says unlicensed traders face prosecution. Neither report quotes the original notice, so the exact legal form is unclear.
Can I still sell gemstones or jade online?
According to GNLM and One News, gem traders can still register if they hold a gemstone trading licence from Myanma Gems Enterprise and sign an acknowledgement that they will not sell gold or gold items online.
What are the penalties?
The Irrawaddy reports six months to three years in prison and a fine of up to 500,000 kyats (about US$240) under the 2013 Essential Commodities and Services Law. Tilleke & Gibbins’s 2023 explainer cites the same range for failing to register under Notification 50/2023.
When does enforcement start?
The Irrawaddy says industry insiders expect inspections and enforcement to begin at the end of October 2026. The ministry statement as carried by GNLM does not give a date.
Does the ban cover household items?
The Irrawaddy’s wording includes “art objects, and household items.” GNLM’s version of the ministry statement limits the scope to gold, gold jewellery, and artistic works and accessories made of gold. We follow the ministry wording and cannot confirm the broader reading.
What to watch next
This is a story with several open questions. The ministry’s original notice has not been found, and the new-ban-versus-restatement question is unresolved. The number of current certificate holders is unknown, and the Mandalay arrests are reported by a single outlet. The one thing that can be checked soon is whether the enforcement The Irrawaddy expects at the end of October actually starts, and whether it extends to livestreams on Facebook and TikTok. Sellers affected by this should read the ministry’s notice directly once it is available, and not rely on summaries, including this one.
Sources: Global New Light of Myanmar, “Registration for online trading on gold and its items prohibited” (8 October 2026). The Irrawaddy, “Regime Shuts Down Myanmar’s Surging Online Gold Market” (9 October 2026). One News, “Online sales of gold and gold-related products prohibited” (9 October 2026). Ministry of Commerce, eComReg Online Sales Registration explainer (undated). Tilleke & Gibbins, “Myanmar Requires Registration of Online Retail Businesses” (28 July 2023, updated 29 September 2023). Myanmar Tech Press: TikTok restrictions (7 October 2026); CBM and overseas payment apps (9 September 2026); TikTok Shop SOAR Together (28 April 2025).