NAIROBI, Kenya Oct 12 \u2014 Kenya is set for its first comprehensive crypto framework after the National Assembly passed the Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) Bill, 2025 at Third Reading, sending it to President William Ruto for assent.<\/p>\n
The Bill assigns licensing and supervisory duties to existing regulators led by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), aiming to protect consumers, curb abuse and provide legal certainty to crypto businesses. <\/p>\n
On the ground, use cases continue to emerge. In Kibera for instance, a \u201cbitcoin circular economy\u201d run by community organisers has processed more than 2,000 small transactions to date, while USSD tools such as Machankura allow basic-phone users to send or receive small amounts of bitcoin without mobile data. <\/p>\n
Local on-ramps like Bitika integrate M-Pesa for purchases, and payments firms are testing point-of-sale flows to make spending sats feel as familiar as mobile money.<\/p>\n
The legislative push follows the Finance Act 2025, which scrapped the 3% Digital Asset Tax and replaced it with a 10% excise duty on fees charged by virtual-asset platforms\u2014shifting taxation from the asset value to the service layer.<\/p>\n
A draft National Treasury policy issued earlier this year outlined a coordinated, multi-agency approach to oversight, with consumer protection, market integrity and anti-money-laundering\/counter-terrorist-financing (AML\/CFT) as core priorities. International advisers have urged a risk-based regime to match Kenya\u2019s rapid adoption while addressing prudential and conduct risks.<\/p>\n
Parliament has also reshaped the governance model. The approved text drops an earlier proposal to create a new standalone Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and instead establishes a coordinated licensing model in which existing regulators take the lead\u2014an approach lawmakers said would avoid duplicating mandates and reduce legal ambiguity. However, the Treasury retains reserve powers under the same clause to establish a separate authority in future if needed.<\/p>\n
Despite opposition from some stakeholders, the Bill retains a requirement that licensed virtual-asset providers maintain a physical office in Kenya and appoint a board of at least three natural-person directors. Supporters say the measure will deter shell operations and improve accountability in a sector long dominated by offshore entities with minimal local presence.<\/p>\n
If enacted, the framework would align Kenya with global AML\/CFT standards while avoiding bureaucratic expansion. VASPs would be required to obtain licences from the relevant regulator, segregate customer assets and hold accounts in Kenyan banks, appoint compliance officers, undergo independent IT audits, and implement detailed AML and data-protection controls. Subsidiary regulations issued after assent will set out licensing procedures, disclosure requirements and compliance timelines.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI, Kenya Oct 12 \u2014 Kenya is set for its first comprehensive crypto framework after the National Assembly passed the Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) Bill, 2025 at Third Reading, sending it to President William Ruto for assent. The Bill assigns licensing and supervisory duties to existing regulators led by the Central Bank of Kenya […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122946\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}