Overview
- Bright orange Bankless Bitcoin kiosks offering cash-to-crypto buy and sell services have been installed at Two Rivers, in Westlands, and along Ngong Road alongside traditional bank ATMs.
- Kenya’s Virtual Assets Service Providers Act took effect on November 4, assigning payments and custody oversight to the Central Bank of Kenya and trading and investment oversight to the Capital Markets Authority.
- In a November 18 joint notice, CBK and CMA said no Virtual Asset Service Provider has been approved and warned that firms claiming authorization are operating illegally.
- The National Treasury has yet to publish the operational regulations needed to open licensing, creating a live compliance gap that exposes operators and users to statutory penalties, including fines and possible executive imprisonment.
- The mall placements stand out against a country listing of only two Bitcoin ATMs on CoinATMradar and follow years of grassroots use in Kibera, where Afrobit Africa reports roughly 200 users and Lightning payments among local merchants and riders.