Kenya's crypto licensing grace period ends Wednesday, and after November 4 running a virtual asset business without a licence is an offence

Kenya's grace period for crypto firms that were already operating ends on Wednesday, November 4, one year after the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act took effect, according to Digital Policy Alert, Vellum Kenya and CoinDesk's weekly calendar. The Treasury gazetted the implementing regulations on July 22, Vellum reported.

The rules cover anyone providing virtual asset services "in or from Kenya," which can include foreign platforms that serve Kenyan users. There are ten licence categories. The Central Bank of Kenya supervises payments and stablecoin issuers; the Capital Markets Authority oversees exchanges, brokers and tokenisation. Minimum paid-up capital is KSh10 million for brokers, payment processors and token-offering providers, KSh100 million for exchanges, KSh150 million for wallet providers and KSh300 million for stablecoin issuers, the two outlets reported.

The Africans Time, citing a legal update from Liminal Custody, reported that operating without a licence after November 4 becomes a criminal offence. Neither outlet said how many licences have been issued so far, so it is not clear how many firms will have one by Wednesday.