Kenya: Virtual Asset Service Providers Bill 2025 including authorisation requirement for virtual asset offerings was introduced to National Assembly

On 8 April 2025, the Virtual Asset Service Providers Bill 2025 was introduced to the National Assembly. Section 35 of the Bill provides that no person may issue or purport to issue a virtual asset offering in or from Kenya, or seek the admission of such an asset to trading on a virtual asset trading platform, unless the issuance has been approved by the relevant regulatory authority. Natural persons are expressly ineligible to promote or issue a virtual asset offering in or from Kenya. Applicants would be required to submit an application in compliance with requirements prescribed by the relevant regulatory authority and may proceed only after receiving written notification of no objection. The relevant regulatory authority would retain the power to object to or require modifications of an offering after issuance has commenced where, among other grounds, the manner of advertising is inconsistent with the application, the issuer was not disclosed, or the issuance is detrimental to the public interest. A person who contravenes these requirements would commit a criminal offence and be liable, upon conviction, to a fine not exceeding KES 10 million or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or both, in the case of an individual, and to a fine not exceeding KES 25 million in the case of a company.