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 might considerably enhance cryptocurrency adoption in Kenya by introducing clear guidelines on licensing, compliance, and registration of digital asset platforms.
Tony Olendo, chairman of the blockchain policy-advocacy group, mentioned the absence of a regulatory framework has deterred many Kenyans from coming into the crypto area resulting from safety considerations.
He believes the invoice, as soon as handed, will ease these fears and open the sector to broader public participation.
“I feel Kenya is prepared for crypto. And we see that when even some banks are able to help crypto, signalling institutional openness,” mentioned Olendo.
His views have been echoed by Dominic Mulinda, Chief Product Officer at Honey Coin, who famous that with out outlined rules, the area stays susceptible to fraud and phishing scams.
“Technology is diagnostic and unhealthy gamers can really come at it and wield it. That is why phishing scams are a giant risk to the ecosystem,” Mulinda famous.
“The invoice addresses key points. It doesn’t clear up all the pieces but, although.”
A 2025 UNCTAD report estimates that about 8.5 % of Kenyans, roughly 4.25 million individuals, personal cryptocurrency, a determine business gamers say continues to be low given the area’s fast digitization.
The 2024 Geography of Crypto Report ranked Kenya twenty eighth globally in adoption, behind Nigeria, Ethiopia, and South Africa.
Notably, Sub-Saharan Africa leads globally in decentralized finance (DeFi) adoption, with customers leveraging crypto for enterprise funds, inflation hedging, and remittances.
Stablecoins equivalent to USDT and USDC now make up 43% of the area’s transaction quantity, pushed by financial instability and restricted entry to U.S. {dollars}.
Industry gamers consider the VASP Bill might pave the way in which for integration of crypto into platforms like M-Pesa, in addition to tokenization initiatives already below exploration by the Nairobi Securities Exchange and tasks such because the Kenya Digital Exchange.
VACC, which submitted formal suggestions to the invoice in January 2025, can be advocating for decreased digital asset taxes.
