Buy crypto in Kenya

Crypto is legal to buy and hold in Kenya, though it is not legal tender and a full regulatory framework is still being built. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has historically cautioned against crypto, while the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) and lawmakers have moved toward a Virtual Asset Service Providers bill to license and supervise the sector. Adoption is high, driven by remittances and a young, mobile-first population.

M-Pesa mobile money is the engine of Kenyan crypto: most P2P trades settle by sending shillings over M-Pesa directly to a seller while the platform escrows the coins. Binance, OKX and local platforms are widely used. The 2023 Finance Act introduced a Digital Asset Tax of 3% on the transfer value of crypto, collected by exchanges, so factor that into each trade.