Africa

Kenya crypto restrictions and exchange access

Crypto is legal in Kenya and a 2025 law sets up licensing, but we found no licensed firm on any public register yet.

Available

of 22 platforms

Limited

of 22 platforms

Restricted

of 22 platforms

Regulators

Top exchanges by access score

Last updated 20 Oct 2026

Map of Kenya and its neighbours South Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda, with Kenya shaded available overall. Beside it: 2 of 22 tracked platforms refuse Kenyan residents; no virtual asset firm was licensed on a public register when the Central Bank and the Capital Markets Authority last said so on 18 November 2025; existing operators have until 4 November 2026 to comply with the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act; a 10% excise duty applies to virtual asset fees since 1 July 2025 after the 3% digital asset tax was repealed.

Is crypto legal in Kenya?

Yes. We found no Kenyan law that bans holding or trading crypto, and the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act 2025 sets up licensing for firms instead. The Act’s prohibition falls on businesses that run virtual asset services without a licence.

The Act was assented on 15 October 2025, gazetted on 21 October and commenced on 4 November 2025. It defines a virtual asset as a digital representation of value that can be traded or transferred and used for payment or investment. Central bank digital currencies, closed-ecosystem items and NFTs not used for payment or investment are outside it. Section 8(2) says no person may carry on virtual asset services “in or from Kenya” without a licence, and licence applicants must be companies registered in Kenya. Under section 40(3) an unlicensed operator faces a fine of up to 10 million shillings or five years in prison for an individual, and up to 25 million shillings for a company. Section 47 gave existing operators one year from commencement to comply, which puts the deadline at 4 November 2026.

Before the Act the official line was a warning. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) notice of December 2015 said Bitcoin and similar products are not legal tender and not regulated, and told the public to desist from transacting. It did not call them illegal, and we found no later CBK warning of that kind.

The sections below cover who holds approval, who refuses Kenyans, the products that are cut, enforcement, betting law and tax.

Which crypto exchanges work in Kenya?

Most of the exchanges we track serve Kenya, but none shows a Kenyan licence. When the CBK and the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) last said so, on 18 November 2025, they had licensed no virtual asset firm, and we found no register naming one since.

The joint notice said licensing would start once the Regulations were issued. The National Treasury gazetted the Regulations on 22 July 2026, according to a law-firm alert from Oraro; we could not read the Gazette notice itself. Another firm, Spencer West, says the regime is now operational. Section 17 of the Act makes each regulator publish a register of licences on its website. The CMA home page we read carried no notice on virtual assets, and we found no CBK or CMA announcement of a first licence.

The Regulations split the licence categories between the two regulators, and Oraro lists the minimum paid-up capital for each, as the chart shows. A company with more than one activity holds the highest category plus 50% of the capital for each extra one.

Brand Spur reported on 10 August 2026 that Binance, Luno, Yellow Card, VALR and Kotani Pay were preparing to seek Kenyan licences; it does not say any has applied. We found no Kenyan company or licence for any exchange we track, so the dataset holds no licence row for Kenya.

Best crypto platforms for Kenyan residents

By our access score, nine exchanges tie at 8.0 out of 10 for Kenyan residents, the ones our geo-access test loaded from Kenya. Coinbase, Kraken, Crypto.com and Bitstamp score 7.5 because we have not tested them from Kenya.

The score rates how fully a Kenyan resident can use each platform, not its fees or safety. It is computed from our data and moves when a row changes: access status (4 points), the share of the platform’s products open here (3), the Kenyan licences we hold on file (2) and what our geo-access test saw from a Kenyan address (1, or 0.5 when untested). No platform has a Kenyan licence on file, so every platform scores 0 on licences. Platforms that refuse Kenyan residents are not scored. The full method is on our methodology page.

Exchanges

Binance
Best for Spot trading with a large user base
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Kenya is not on its prohibited-countries list
- Our test loaded its home and sign-up pages
Cons
- Kenyan authorities froze some user accounts in April 2026
- No Kenyan licence on file
Read our Binance report
Bitfinex
Best for Spot access under global terms
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Kenya is not a prohibited jurisdiction in its terms
Cons
- No Kenyan licence on file
Read our Bitfinex report
Bitget
Best for Spot and derivatives under global terms
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Kenya is not on its prohibited-countries list
Cons
- No Kenyan licence on file
Read our Bitget report
Bybit
Best for Spot and derivatives under global terms
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Kenya is not on its excluded-jurisdictions list
- Its sign-up page preselected Kenya in our test
Cons
- No Kenyan licence on file
Read our Bybit report
Gate
Best for Spot and derivatives under global terms
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Kenya is not named in its restricted locations
Cons
- Its list is non-exhaustive
- No Kenyan licence on file
Read our Gate report
HTX
Best for Spot and derivatives under global terms
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Kenya is not on the restricted lists in its user agreement
Cons
- No Kenyan licence on file
Read our HTX report
KuCoin
Best for Spot and derivatives under global terms
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Kenya is not a restricted location in its terms
Cons
- No Kenyan licence on file
Read our KuCoin report
MEXC
Best for Spot and derivatives under global terms
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Kenya is not on its prohibited list
Cons
- No Kenyan licence on file
Read our MEXC report
OKX
Best for Spot and derivatives under global terms
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Kenya is not on its restricted-locations list of 8 July 2026
Cons
- No Kenyan licence on file
Read our OKX report
Bitstamp
Best for Plain spot trading
7.5/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
0.5/1
Pros
- No Bitstamp document excludes Kenya
Cons
- Not tested from Kenya
- No Kenyan licence on file
Read our Bitstamp report
Coinbase
Best for Spot trading with a US-listed brand
7.5/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
0.5/1
Pros
- Kenya is a listed sign-up country in its identity verification guide
Cons
- Not tested from Kenya
- No Kenyan licence on file
Read our Coinbase report
Crypto.com
Best for Spot trading in the app
7.5/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
0.5/1
Pros
- Kenya is not on its App geo-restriction list
Cons
- Not tested from Kenya
- No Kenyan licence on file
Read our Crypto.com report
Kraken
Best for Plain spot trading
7.5/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
0.5/1
Pros
- Kenya is not on its do-not-serve list
Cons
- Not tested from Kenya
- No Kenyan licence on file
Read our Kraken report

Prediction markets

Polymarket
Best for Global event markets from a wallet
7.5/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
0.5/1
Pros
- Kenya is not on its blocked-countries list
Cons
- No Kenyan regulator position found
- Not tested from Kenya
Read our Polymarket report

DeFi

Aster
Best for Perpetuals and spot trading
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Perpetuals load in the trading app in our test
Cons
- Prediction trading is barred under its prediction rules
Read our Aster report
Hyperliquid
Best for Perpetuals from your own wallet
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Its app loaded in our test from Kenya
Cons
- No Kenyan licence on file
Read our Hyperliquid report
Lighter
Best for Perpetuals on its trading app
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Not named in its terms
- The trading app loaded in our test
Cons
- No Kenyan licence on file
Read our Lighter report
Jupiter
Best for Solana swaps
7.5/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
0.5/1
Pros
- Kenya is not named in its terms
Cons
- Not tested from Kenya
Read our Jupiter report
PancakeSwap
Best for BNB Chain swaps and pools
7.5/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
0.5/1
Pros
- Its terms bar only people and places under US sanctions
Cons
- Not tested from Kenya
Read our PancakeSwap report
Uniswap
Best for Swapping tokens from your own wallet
7.5/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
0.5/1
Pros
- Its terms bar only places under comprehensive US sanctions
Cons
- Not tested from Kenya
Read our Uniswap report

Which platforms block Kenyan users?

Two tracked platforms refuse Kenyan residents. Gemini does not serve Kenya at all, and Kalshi bars Kenyan residents from its event contracts.

Gemini serves only the countries on its areas-of-availability pages, and Kenya is on neither of its lists of supported countries. Kalshi names Kenya among the restricted jurisdictions in its member agreement and on its sign-up page.

State action has not blocked a tracked platform. On 22 April 2026 Business Daily reported that Binance had restricted an undisclosed number of Kenyan accounts “at the request of law enforcement”. The report does not say how many or why, and it ties the move to pressure on Kenya to tighten oversight while it sits on the FATF grey list. We found no standing order that blocks a tracked platform’s site.

Platforms that refuse Kenyan residentsPick one to see what the record says

Platform	Status	Type	What the record says	Kenyan option
Gemini	Restricted	Exchange	Kenya is not on either of Gemini’s lists of supported countries	–
Kalshi	Restricted	Prediction market	Kenya is on Kalshi’s restricted-jurisdictions list and its sign-up page	Polymarket lists no Kenyan block

Source: platform documents, verified 17 October 2026.

What our geo-access test saw from Kenya

From a Kenyan virtual location on 14 and 16 October 2026 we loaded 12 of the 22 platforms we track, all with no barrier. We have not tested the other ten from Kenya.

The 12 are Binance, Bybit, OKX, KuCoin, Bitget, Gate, MEXC, HTX, Bitfinex, Hyperliquid, Lighter and Aster. A virtual location tests a platform’s own geo-blocking but cannot see a Kenyan internet provider’s block. An open page is also not permission, because most platforms enforce at identity verification. Swipe through the screenshots below; each card says what the page showed.

Who regulates crypto in Kenya?

The CBK and the CMA license and supervise virtual asset firms under the 2025 Act, the National Treasury writes the rules, and the Kenya Revenue Authority taxes them. The courts and the data protection regulator have so far dealt with Worldcoin.

Central Bank of Kenya. Under the first schedule of the Act it licenses virtual asset wallet providers, payment processors and stablecoin issuers.
Capital Markets Authority. Licenses exchanges and trading platforms, brokers, advisers, managers, token issuance platforms and tokenisation.
National Treasury. A draft national policy and the VASP Bill went to public comment, which CMS says closed on 29 January 2025. Treasury gazetted the Regulations in July 2026, and Oraro reports a coordination forum of 20 agencies chaired by Treasury.
Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). Collects the excise duty and, from 1 July 2026, receives annual returns from providers (see the tax section).
Courts and the data protection regulator. The Interior Ministry suspended Worldcoin’s iris scans on 2 August 2023 pending inquiries. On 5 May 2025 the High Court ordered collection to stop and the data to be deleted, finding Data Protection Act breaches, per The Block. People Daily reported on 22 January 2026 that the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner confirmed the deletion. We did not locate the judgment or the notice themselves.

Which crypto products are limited in Kenya?

Providers are the tightest limit: from 4 November 2026 no virtual asset service may run in or from Kenya without a CBK or CMA licence, and only the CBK licenses stablecoin issuers. For users, the product cuts are Kalshi’s event contracts and Worldcoin’s iris scans.

Stablecoins. Oraro reports that issuers need full reserve backing and must let holders redeem at par within two working days, with KES 300 million minimum capital.
Wallets and custody. Custodial wallet providers fall under the CBK, with KES 150 million minimum capital per Oraro.
Consumer protection. Oraro lists segregation of consumer assets and reporting of cyber incidents within 24 hours.
Binance P2P. The April 2026 account restrictions above came at the request of law enforcement, and we found no published rule that limits peer-to-peer trading itself.

Are prediction markets legal in Kenya?

The law is unsettled. The Gambling Control Act 2025 defines a bet broadly, and we found no ruling by a Kenyan regulator on Polymarket or Kalshi; Polymarket lists no Kenyan block, while Kalshi bars Kenya.

The Gambling Control Act was assented on 7 August 2025 and commenced on 26 August 2025. It defines a bet as a wager or stake of money or money’s worth “on a horse race, fight, game, sport, lottery or exercise or any other event, race or contingency”. Under section 79 a foreign-based operator can hold an online gambling licence only if it is registered in Kenya, has a physical address there and meets the regulator’s requirements. Providing online gambling without a licence carries a fine of up to 2 million shillings or two years for an individual and up to 50 million shillings for a company. The text does not mention prediction markets, event contracts or crypto, and the VASP Act does not mention gambling. We do not know how a regulator would apply either law to one. Law-firm summaries say the Act replaces the Betting Control and Licensing Board with a Gambling Regulatory Authority, but we could not open them, and we found no statement from it or from the CMA or CBK on prediction markets.

Polymarket lists no Kenyan restriction, and Kalshi bars Kenyan residents.

How is crypto taxed in Kenya?

Kenya’s 3% Digital Asset Tax was repealed from 1 July 2025 and replaced by a 10% excise duty on the fees virtual asset providers charge, according to EY. Since the Finance Act 2026, providers must also file annual returns on their users.

The Digital Asset Tax came in under the Finance Act 2023 and took 3% of the transfer or exchange value, not of the gain, which the platform withheld. The Finance Bill 2025 proposed halving it, but Parliament’s finance committee dropped it, and Business Daily reported on 22 June 2025 that MPs scrapped it and would tax fees instead. EY reports that the Finance Act 2025, signed on 27 June 2025, repealed the tax and set excise duty on virtual asset transaction fees at 10% of the fee, from 1 July 2025. We could not read the Act’s own text, so both figures rest on EY. The chart uses a 1% platform fee only as an illustration.

The Finance Act 2026 took effect for these provisions on 1 July 2026. It adds section 6C to the Tax Procedures Act:

Annual returns. Each virtual asset service provider that runs an exchange or a trading platform files an information return on its reportable users and on controlling persons of entity users, in line with the Data Protection Act.
Penalties. A fine of 100,000 shillings or up to three years in prison, or both, for a false statement; a penalty of 100,000 shillings per omission; and 1 million shillings for each failure to file a return or a nil return. A reasonable-effort defence exists.
Information exchange. New section 6D lets Kenya sign agreements with other countries for automatic exchange of information on virtual asset transactions.
Gaps. The text sets no filing deadline or form, and we found no KRA notice with them. We found no change to the 10% excise in the Act, and no KRA guidance on whether gains are income or capital.

What to expect, from those sources:

Crypto tax in Kenya for an individualWhat the sources above support

Step	Detail
Expect no asset tax on transfers	The 3% Digital Asset Tax ended on 30 June 2025
Expect excise duty inside platform fees	10% of the fee a provider charges, from 1 July 2025
Expect your provider to report you	Providers file annual returns on reportable users from 1 July 2026
Treat gains as unsettled	We found no KRA guidance on income versus capital treatment, so ask an adviser

Source: EY and the Finance Act 2026, checked 19 October 2026.

Sources: Kenya Law (1: Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025 (Act No. 20 of 2025), 2: Gambling Control Act, 2025 (Act No. 14 of 2025)), Central Bank of Kenya and Capital Markets Authority: Public notice on the Virtual Assets Service Providers Act 2025 (18 November 2025), Central Bank of Kenya: Caution to the public on virtual currencies such as Bitcoin (December 2015), Oraro & Company: Virtual Asset Service Providers Regulations, 2026 (legal alert, August 2026), Spencer West: Kenya's Virtual Asset Service Providers Regulations 2026: regulatory framework now operational (28 July 2026), CMS: Draft National Policy on Virtual Assets and VASPs and the VASP Bill (February 2025), Brand Spur: Binance, Luno, Yellow Card and others target Kenya crypto licences (10 August 2026), Business Daily (1: Kenya freezes Binance accounts in money laundering purge (22 April 2026), 2: MPs drop digital assets tax of 3pc on transactions (22 June 2025)), Kenya Revenue Authority: Finance Act 2026 (Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 157, 26 June 2026), EY: Kenya enacts Finance Act 2025 (16 July 2025), TechCrunch: Kenya suspends Worldcoin scans over security, privacy and financial concerns (2 August 2023), The Block: Kenya court rules against Sam Altman's World, orders data deletion (6 May 2025), People Daily: Why Worldcoin erased Kenyans' biometric data (22 January 2026), Kalshi: Member agreement: restricted jurisdictions, Gemini: Areas of availability, checked 19 Oct 2026.

Platform availability

Explore which exchanges and prediction markets are available in Kenya.

Platform	Type	Spot	Derivatives	Staking	Status	Last verified
Aster	DeFi	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
Binance	Exchange	Available	Available	Available	Available	28 Sep 2026
Bitfinex	Exchange	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
Bitget	Exchange	Available	Available	–	Available	20 Oct 2026
Bitstamp	Exchange	Available	Available	Available	Available	19 Oct 2026
Bybit	Exchange	Available	Available	Available	Available	16 Oct 2026
Coinbase	Exchange	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
Crypto.com	Exchange	Available	Available	–	Available	17 Oct 2026
Gate	Exchange	Available	Available	–	Available	19 Oct 2026
Gemini	Exchange	Restricted	Restricted	Restricted	Restricted	17 Oct 2026
HTX	Exchange	Available	Available	Available	Available	19 Oct 2026
Hyperliquid	DeFi	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
Jupiter	DeFi	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
Kalshi	Prediction market	–	–	–	Restricted	17 Oct 2026
Kraken	Exchange	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
KuCoin	Exchange	Available	Available	–	Available	19 Oct 2026
Lighter	DeFi	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
MEXC	Exchange	Available	Available	–	Available	19 Oct 2026
OKX	Exchange	Available	Available	Available	Available	16 Oct 2026
PancakeSwap	DeFi	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
Polymarket	Prediction market	–	–	–	Available	17 Oct 2026
Uniswap	DeFi	Available	–	–	Available	17 Oct 2026