blockchain and virtual assets advisory in kenya — legal counsel from the lawyers who helped write the rules

The Virtual Assets Service Providers Act 2025 requires businesses offering virtual asset services in Kenya to obtain a licence from the Capital Markets Authority, the Central Bank of Kenya, or both, depending on the nature of their services. Operating without the required licence is not a technical oversight. It is a criminal offence carrying significant penalties.

We guide clients through the entire licensing process. That begins with pre-application regulatory analysis to determine which licence you need and which regulator governs your specific business model. From there we advise on corporate structuring to meet the organisational and capital requirements for licence eligibility, prepare and submit the complete licence application with all required documentation, engage with the CMA and the CBK on your behalf throughout the review process, and provide post-licence compliance advisory to protect your regulatory standing once you are operational.

The licensing process is detailed and the regulators are paying close attention. We have been inside these conversations from the beginning.

Anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism compliance is not optional for VASPs. It is a legal prerequisite for licensing and for ongoing operations, and regulators will scrutinise your framework closely before and after your licence is granted.

The Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act and the Financial Reporting Centre guidelines impose specific obligations on virtual asset service providers that go well beyond what most businesses initially anticipate. We develop comprehensive, VASPA-compliant AML/CFT frameworks that cover Customer Due Diligence and Know Your Customer procedures, transaction monitoring policies, suspicious transaction reporting procedures, staff training programmes, and periodic independent review processes.

A weak AML/CFT framework is one of the fastest ways to lose a licence you worked hard to obtain. We make sure yours holds up.

Regulatory compliance for VASPs is not a one-time project. It is an ongoing operational requirement that will grow more demanding as the VASP framework matures. Reporting obligations, governance standards, and regulatory expectations will continue to evolve, and businesses that treat licensing as the finish line rather than the starting point will find themselves exposed.

We provide ongoing compliance support to keep your business fully aligned with CMA and CBK requirements, and to ensure you are aware of upcoming regulatory changes before they affect your operations rather than after.

Kenya’s tax framework for digital assets is genuinely complex, and getting it wrong is expensive. The 10% Excise Duty on VASP transaction fees, the VAT treatment of digital services, and corporate income tax obligations on trading profits all require specialist advice rather than general tax guidance applied to an unfamiliar sector.

We provide tax advisory specific to digital asset businesses, including cross-border structuring for VASPs operating across multiple East African jurisdictions. We track regulatory and tax developments in real time and brief our clients before changes take effect, not after they have already created a compliance problem.

As Kenya’s Virtual Asset market matures, commercial disputes involving smart contracts, exchange agreements, and digital asset transactions are becoming more frequent and more complex. The legal enforceability of smart contract arrangements under Kenyan law is not yet settled doctrine, and businesses that have not structured their agreements carefully are finding that out the difficult way.

We advise on the legal enforceability of smart contract arrangements, draft commercial agreements for digital asset transactions that hold up under Kenyan law, and represent clients in disputes involving digital assets before the courts and in arbitration. If a dispute has already arisen, we will assess your position honestly and pursue the strongest available outcome.