IMF urges Kenya to require crypto platforms to share customer data

In a November 6 technical assistance report, the IMF said Kenya had a “significant gap” in implementing international information-sharing requirements for cryptocurrency transactions. It recommends requiring covered virtual asset service providers to collect, verify and securely transmit information about both sides of a transfer, including names, account references, physical addresses, identification numbers and wallet details.

A sending platform would provide the information to the recipient institution before or during a transfer. The receiving provider could use it to identify the parties, screen transactions against sanctions lists and assess suspicious activity. Information collected under the procedures would also support reports to the Financial Reporting Centre, Kenya’s financial intelligence agency. The IMF wants the obligations incorporated into Kenya’s Virtual Asset Service Providers regulations or another suitable legal instrument without delay.

Kenya’s 2026 regulations already require licensed crypto businesses to identify customers and keep records. The IMF’s recommendation adds a duty to share those details between institutions. Compliance could mean updates to identity-check systems, secure data-sharing arrangements and transaction-monitoring software. The requirements apply to covered providers; transfers directly between individuals without a regulated intermediary raise different enforcement challenges.

Kenya’s Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, which took effect in November 2025, established the country’s first comprehensive crypto licensing framework. It divides oversight between the Central Bank of Kenya and the Capital Markets Authority: the central bank supervises payment services and certain stablecoin activities, while the CMA regulates exchanges, brokers and investment-related providers. The CMA has also begun preparing blockchain-monitoring software intended to track activity across more than 20 networks. Regulators and crypto companies did not respond to crypto.news requests for comment by press time.

Kenya has been on the FATF grey list since February 2024. In an October 30 assessment, the watchdog noted improvements in financial supervision, beneficial-ownership reporting and financial intelligence, but called for more action on transparency, money-laundering investigations and prosecutions. Kenyan authorities are aiming for removal from the list by April 2027; the outcome depends on FATF’s assessment of completed reforms.

The recommendations have prompted debate online. Financial commentator Moe, posting as @moneyacademyKE, said the rules would help authorities track transfers and investigate possible money laundering. Ben Benares argued in a November 10 post that international institutions impose disproportionate regulatory pressure on developing countries. The IMF has also pointed to widespread peer-to-peer trading and scams. Its January 2025 assessment documented complaints about informal transactions in which customers paid but did not receive the cryptocurrency promised.

Chainalysis figures cited in local reporting put Kenya’s crypto market at about KSh740 billion, or $5.7 billion, for the year ending June 2026, making it Africa’s third-largest after South Africa and Nigeria. Stablecoins are used for cross-border payments, remittances and purchases of imported goods, while peer-to-peer trading remains common. Kenya’s Data Protection Act, 2019, governs personal information, and proposals in the Finance Bill 2026 separately called for annual user and transaction disclosures to the Kenya Revenue Authority.