The Cambodia online scam bill has moved further than some crypto-only headlines suggest: the Senate has already approved a broad anti-scam measure with prison terms that can stretch to life, but the official record still shows one remaining step before it becomes law, royal promulgation.
Senate approval moved the bill past the proposal stage
On April 3, 2026, Cambodia’s Senate unanimously approved the draft law on combating scams through technological systems without amendment, with all 58 senators voting yes. That official notice is the clearest sign that the measure has already moved beyond the proposal stage used in some crypto coverage.
Cambodia’s National Assembly unanimously passed the same draft law on March 30, 2026, with 112 lawmakers in attendance, sending it to the Senate within days.
That short run from the March 30 Assembly vote to the April 3 Senate vote suggests unusually strong backing for a faster crackdown on scam centers. The draft still awaits royal promulgation before it becomes law, so the legislative process is advanced but not complete.
The path before those votes was also unusually direct. State outlet AKP reported a Feb. 11, 2026 preliminary approval, and later reporting placed Cabinet sign-off on March 13, 2026 before the draft reached parliament.
The penalty ladder is what makes the bill severe
Organizing or directing a technology-fraud site carries five to 10 years in prison and fines of 500 million to 1 billion riels under the Cabinet-approved draft summarized by AP. That base tier shows the measure is aimed at the operators of scam infrastructure, not only at low-level participants.
The punishment rises to 10 to 20 years in prison and up to 2 billion riels in fines when a scam operation involves violence, detention or confinement, human trafficking, or forced labor. Those aggravating factors tie the bill directly to the abuse allegations that have surrounded scam compounds across Southeast Asia.
The draft reserves its harshest punishment for fatal cases: if a death is linked to a scam center, the offense can carry 15 to 30 years in prison or life imprisonment.
Senior Minister Chhay Sinarith told AP that authorities had targeted 250 suspected scam locations, shut about 200, and filed 79 cases involving 697 alleged ringleaders and associates since July. Those enforcement figures help explain why lawmakers backed a bill that pairs long prison terms with large financial penalties.
The crypto framing needs caution, and the next step is still formal
Accuracy matters here because the official Senate notice and the wire summaries all describe a broader online-scam or technology-fraud measure. Crypto investment fraud appears in coverage as one example of the schemes authorities want to reach, not as the draft’s sole official target.
That distinction matters for readers tracking digital-asset compliance and recovery efforts. Coinwy recently reported that Circle Failed To Freeze $420M in Illicit USDC Since 2022, a separate enforcement story showing how anti-fraud pressure can spill over into stablecoin accountability.
It also matters because policy risk and adoption do not always move in the same direction. Coinwy’s look at the corporate Bitcoin split between Strategy holding and Nakamoto selling captured a similar tension, with commitment on one side and caution on the other.
Retail speculation adds another reason not to overstate the measure as a crypto-only law. Coverage of OKZOO’s April-to-May listing window for AIOT is a reminder that token narratives can attract aggressive promotions, but the Cambodian draft is written broadly enough to reach scam-center conduct beyond launch-driven crypto pitches.
The next concrete step is royal promulgation. Until that happens, the best-supported framing is that Cambodia’s Senate has approved a broad anti-online-scam bill with severe prison exposure, while the crypto angle should be presented as one covered scam subtype rather than the law’s only focus.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency and digital asset markets carry significant risk. Always do your own research before making decisions.
