Kenya VASP Licensing & Compliance Resource Centre
The central hub for licence categories, CBK/CMA jurisdiction, costs, AML and the transition deadline.
Read insight →A virtual asset exchange, a platform that facilitates the trading of virtual assets between users or against fiat currency, sits among the activities generally associated with Capital Markets Authority oversight under Kenya's VASP framework, reflecting its market and investment character. This page covers the exchange-specific issues that sit alongside the general licensing process.
What counts as an exchange
The regulatory analysis focuses on function rather than branding. A platform that matches buy and sell orders, operates an order book or automated market-making mechanism, or otherwise facilitates trading between third parties, is likely to be treated as an exchange regardless of whether it describes itself as a marketplace, a swap service or something else.
Core regulatory expectations for exchanges
- Governance. A board and senior management with demonstrable capital-markets or trading-venue experience, not solely technology experience.
- Market integrity controls. Policies addressing market manipulation, wash trading, and orderly listing and delisting of virtual assets.
- Capital adequacy. Paid-up and liquid capital appropriate to the scale and risk of the trading activity.
- Custody of customer assets. Segregation of customer assets from the exchange's own assets, and clear records of customer entitlements.
- Systems and controls. Trading system resilience, incident response and audit trail requirements.
- AML/CFT/CPF. Transaction monitoring calibrated to trading patterns, not just onboarding checks.
Listing and delisting virtual assets
Exchanges are expected to operate a documented process for deciding which virtual assets to list, and for delisting assets that no longer meet the exchange's own risk or integrity standards. This process, and the criteria behind it, should be capable of being explained to the regulator, not left as an informal internal practice.
Reporting and supervision
Once licensed, exchanges should expect ongoing reporting obligations covering trading volumes, incidents, and material changes to governance, ownership or systems, consistent with the continuing compliance obligations that apply across VASP licence categories generally.
How this differs from wallet or payment licensing
An exchange that also custodies customer assets, as most do, combines the exchange activity with a custody function. Founders building a combined trading-and-custody platform should map both functions against the licence categories rather than assuming a single exchange licence automatically covers the custody side; see our wallet provider guide for the custody-specific analysis.
Building or operating a virtual asset exchange?
We advise on market integrity, custody and systems requirements alongside your licence application.
Discuss Your Exchange Licence ApplicationKey legal & regulatory sources
- Kenya Law — Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025 (Act No. 20 of 2025)
- Kenya Law — Virtual Asset Service Providers Regulations, 2026 (Legal Notice No. 134 of 2026)
- Central Bank of Kenya and Capital Markets Authority public guidance on VASP licensing
Frequently asked questions
Does a peer-to-peer trading platform need an exchange licence in Kenya?
It depends on the platform's actual function. A platform that merely lists advertisements between users without facilitating matching or settlement is analysed differently from one that operates an order book or automated matching engine. This should be assessed on the specific model.
Is a Kenyan exchange licence enough to serve customers outside Kenya?
A Kenyan VASP licence authorises the licensed activity in or from Kenya. Serving customers in other jurisdictions may separately engage those jurisdictions' own securities or virtual asset laws, which should be assessed independently.
What happens to customer assets if an exchange becomes insolvent?
This depends on how well customer assets have been segregated and documented as belonging to customers rather than the exchange. Robust custody and segregation practice, built in from the start, is central to protecting customers in this scenario.
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Read insight →The information on this website is general in nature, is not legal advice, and does not create an advocate-client relationship. Figures, fees, capital thresholds and procedural requirements under the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025 and the Virtual Asset Service Providers Regulations, 2026 should be confirmed against the current Gazette text and regulator guidance before action is taken. Please contact Njau & Associates Advocates for advice on your specific circumstances.