Kenyan users moved a total of KSh740 billion in cryptocurrencies during the year to June, a rise of 38 per cent from KSh505 billion in the previous period, according to data from Chainalysis.
The surge placed Kenya ahead of Ethiopia as Africa’s third-largest crypto market, trailing only South Africa and Nigeria, which recorded KSh5.1 trillion and KSh4.9 trillion respectively, while Ethiopia fell 8.0 per cent to KSh480 billion.
Stablecoins accounted for the overwhelming share of Kenyan crypto activity, with bitcoin representing just 2 per cent of transactions, a contrast to the higher bitcoin shares seen in Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa.
“The biggest effect of regulation, in Kenya and globally, has been on institutional confidence. Even before full implementation, the clear direction of travel told financial institutions that this sector is becoming legitimate, supervised and investable,” said Allan Kakai, founding director of the Virtual Assets Chamber of Commerce (VACC). “Regulation has also filtered out bad actors and created a structured, trusted framework that businesses and consumers can rely on. In short, regulation has built trust, and trust has opened the market to blue-chip institutional players.”
Kakai added that Kenya’s reliance on imports makes stablecoins a faster and cheaper option for settling dollar-denominated trade, noting that settlements are effectively instant and cross-border costs drop sharply.
“This points to a practical use case for stablecoins across the region: allowing people and businesses to hold value in US dollars and other currencies without having to open denominated bank accounts,” said Chainalysis. The firm also reported that stablecoin receipts via peer-to-peer channels in sub-Saharan Africa grew more than six-fold from $2.3 billion in 2022 to $14.6 billion in 2026, with personal wallets contributing 32.3 per cent of the value.
In East Africa, Kenya leads the crypto market, followed by Uganda with KSh101 billion and Rwanda with KSh57 billion in activity for the year to June.
Kenya’s National Assembly approved the Virtual Asset Service Providers Bill in October 2025, assigning licensing and supervision to the Central Bank of Kenya and the Capital Markets Authority. Implementing regulations came into force on July 22, 2026, outlining licensing, consumer protection, disclosure and risk-management requirements.
An International Monetary Fund assessment in 2024 noted that Kenyan businesses increasingly used stablecoins such as USDT to pay foreign suppliers, especially during periods of dollar shortages and shilling pressure.
