The Central Bank of Kenya and the Capital Markets Authority have told anyone providing or intending to provide virtual asset services that they must apply for a licence. The notice, dated November 13, 2026, follows the gazettement of the VASP Regulations, 2026 on July 22, 2026. The Act designates the CBK and CMA as regulators.
The joint public notice sets out the next step in Kenya’s framework for regulating digital assets. It confirms that the Virtual Asset Service Providers Regulations, 2026 were gazetted on July 22, 2026, in Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 185 under Legal Notice No. 134, by the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury. The regulations put the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act into operation.
The Act has a longer history. The notice refers to the VASP Act, 2025 (Act No. 20 of 2025), which was gazetted on October 21, 2025, and commenced on November 4, 2025. The regulations were developed afterwards by the Treasury on the advice of the CBK and CMA, to put the law into practice.
The Act creates a licensing and supervision regime for virtual asset service providers, with the CBK and CMA as the designated regulators. It allows both authorities to license providers for the services listed in the First Schedule to the Act. The notice does not reproduce that schedule, so applicants will need to check which services fall under which regulator.
The requirement is broad. Any person providing or intending to provide virtual asset services must apply to the relevant authority for a licence under the Act. Detailed licensing checklists are available on each regulator’s website, and the list of licensed providers will be published by the respective authorities once licences are granted.
The timing is significant for businesses already operating in the market. Kenya has a large crypto user base. Chainalysis estimates that about 733,300 Kenyans own digital assets, and that crypto transactions reached KSh740 billion in the year to June 2026, a figure that has been reported by Business Daily and Techtrends. The licensing regime is intended to bring that activity under formal supervision.
The rules have been developed alongside international standards. Earlier reports said the Treasury’s draft regulations were aimed at aligning Kenya with the Financial Action Task Force’s requirements, as the country sought to leave the global grey list. The notice itself does not refer to the FATF, so that link should be checked against the gazetted text.
Press reports on the draft also covered capital requirements. A March 2026 draft proposed KSh500 million in minimum capital for stablecoin issuers, and reports say the figure was cut to KSh300 million in the final regulations. The notice does not state a capital figure, so the number should be checked against the gazetted text before publication.
Applicants can contact the regulators directly. The CBK’s applications desk can be reached at vaspapplications@centralbank.go.ke, with the bank’s head office on Haile Selassie Avenue in Nairobi. The CMA’s virtual assets team is reachable at virtualassets@cma.or.ke, from its offices at Embankment Plaza on Longonot Road in Upperhill.
The next signals will be the publication of licensing checklists and the first licensed providers, as well as any move by the Treasury on other crypto proposals. Firms that have operated without a licence will be watching how the regulators enforce the requirement.
