Kenya Enacts the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act
Kenya’s president assented to the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act on October 15, creating a national licensing framework for virtual-asset businesses; the law was published October 21 and commenced November 4.
On October 15, 2025, Kenya’s president assented to the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, establishing a statutory framework for licensing and regulating businesses that provide virtual-asset services. The Act was published in the Kenya Gazette on October 21 and commenced on November 4, making October 15 the enactment stage rather than the later effective date.
The law covered activities including virtual-asset exchange, transfer, custody, and related financial services. It also imposed anti-money-laundering, counter-terrorist-financing, and proliferation-financing obligations and addressed anonymity-enhancing services. Bitcoin was not singled out as the sole subject, but exchanges, custodians, and other businesses serving Bitcoin users fell within the framework.
Kenya had already developed one of Africa’s most important mobile-money and fintech markets. Bringing virtual-asset businesses under a defined licensing regime therefore changed the legal conditions under which Bitcoin-related firms could operate, interact with banks and payment providers, and serve local users.
The Act did not represent a national embrace of Bitcoin. It represented something more institutional: Bitcoin-related services were moving from a partially governed environment into ordinary financial regulation, with explicit permissions, licensing requirements, and compliance obligations.