Is crypto legal in Kenya? Regulation & rules (2026)

The Treasury, with CBK and CMA, issued draft Virtual Asset Service Providers Regulations (with a Regulatory Impact Statement) to operationalize the 2025 Act and align Kenya with FATF Recommendation 15; licensing of VASPs cannot begin until these implementing rules are finalized.

The VASP Act commenced operation, creating Kenya's first licensing and supervision regime for crypto exchanges, custodians, brokers, payment processors and stablecoin issuers; existing operators were given until 4 November 2026 to comply, and CBK confirmed commencement via public notice.

Kenya's landmark crypto law was signed into law, splitting oversight between the CBK (wallets, payment processors, stablecoins) and the Capital Markets Authority (exchanges, brokers, tokenization), and embedding virtual assets in the AML/CFT framework.

Kenya scrapped the unpopular 3% gross-value Digital Asset Tax and replaced it with a 10% excise duty on fees and commissions charged by crypto platforms, shifting the tax burden from traders to service providers while income/capital gains tax still applies.

The High Court ruled Worldcoin's biometric (iris) data collection in exchange for crypto tokens unlawful under the Data Protection Act and ordered Tools for Humanity to permanently delete all data harvested from Kenyans, a landmark crypto-linked privacy enforcement.

The National Treasury released a draft national policy on virtual assets and VASPs together with the Virtual Asset Service Providers Bill, formally marking Kenya's pivot from caution toward a comprehensive licensing framework.

Kenya's Supreme Court overturned a Court of Appeal ruling that had voided the Finance Act 2023, validating the 3% Digital Asset Tax on crypto transactions and allowing the government to enforce it.

The National Treasury directed development of a dedicated regulatory framework for virtual assets, leading to a multi-agency Technical Working Group and IMF technical assistance aimed at implementing FATF Recommendation 15.

Kenya began taxing crypto, imposing a 3% levy on the transfer or exchange value of digital assets payable to the KRA regardless of profit — the country's first direct taxation of cryptocurrency.

Kenya's Ministry of Interior suspended Worldcoin's iris-scanning crypto enrollment pending investigations into data protection, security and financial-sector risks, triggering multi-agency probes into the project's legality.

After receiving over 100 responses, the Central Bank of Kenya released a summary of public comments and concluded a CBDC was not a compelling near-term priority, signaling it would continue monitoring rather than launch a digital shilling.

The Central Bank of Kenya published a discussion paper exploring the potential applicability of a CBDC, opening public consultation as part of its review of digital-money innovation.

In Lipisha Consortium & BitPesa v Safaricom, the High Court refused interim relief after Safaricom cut off the firms over unregulated bitcoin transfers, an early judicial signal that crypto businesses lacked regulatory approval to use Kenya's payment rails.

The Central Bank of Kenya issued a public notice cautioning that Bitcoin and similar virtual currencies are not legal tender, are unregulated and carry no consumer protection, and (via Circular No. 14 of 2015) directed banks not to deal with virtual-currency businesses — Kenya's foundational regulatory stance.