Kenya's VASP Act 2025: Africa's first standalone crypto law, with a hard deadline

The Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025 received presidential assent on 15 October 2025 and came into force on 4 November 2025, making it the first standalone virtual asset statute enacted in Africa. Supervision is split: CBK takes digital asset issuance and custodial services, while CMA takes exchanges, brokers and trading platforms. An earlier draft's standalone regulator, VARA, was dropped. The 3% digital asset tax was repealed in favour of excise duty on VASP service fees, a materially better outcome for holders and P2P users. Section 47 gives existing VASPs one year from commencement to comply. That clock runs out on 4 November 2026, and every VASP touching the Kenyan market needs a licensing position before then.