VACC advocates legal clarity to boost Kenya’s crypto uptake

NAIROBI, Kenya, July 11 – The Virtual Assets Chamber of Commerce (VACC) has thrown its weight behind the proposed Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) Bill, 2025, arguing it could significantly boost cryptocurrency adoption in Kenya by introducing clear rules on licensing, compliance, and registration of digital asset platforms.

Tony Olendo, chairman of the blockchain policy-advocacy organization, said the absence of a regulatory framework has deterred many Kenyans from entering the crypto space due to security concerns.

He believes the bill, once passed, will ease those fears and open the sector to broader public participation.

“I think Kenya is ready for crypto. And we see that when even some banks are ready to support crypto, signalling institutional openness,” said Olendo.

His views were echoed by Dominic Mulinda, Chief Product Officer at Honey Coin, who noted that without defined regulations, the space remains vulnerable to fraud and phishing scams.

“Technology is diagnostic and bad players can actually come at it and wield it. That is why phishing scams are a big threat to the ecosystem,” Mulinda noted.

“The bill addresses key issues. It does not solve everything yet, though.”

A 2025 UNCTAD report estimates that about 8.5 percent of Kenyans, roughly 4.25 million people, own cryptocurrency, a figure industry players say is still low given the region’s rapid digitization.

The 2024 Geography of Crypto Report ranked Kenya 28th globally in adoption, behind Nigeria, Ethiopia, and South Africa.

Notably, Sub-Saharan Africa leads globally in decentralized finance (DeFi) adoption, with users leveraging crypto for business payments, inflation hedging, and remittances.

Stablecoins such as USDT and USDC now make up 43% of the region’s transaction volume, driven by economic instability and limited access to U.S. dollars.

Industry players believe the VASP Bill could pave the way for integration of crypto into platforms like M-Pesa, as well as tokenization initiatives already under exploration by the Nairobi Securities Exchange and projects such as the Kenya Digital Exchange.

VACC, which submitted formal recommendations to the bill in January 2025, is also advocating for reduced digital asset taxes.