Kenya’s Finance Bill 2026 could compel crypto platforms to identify wallet owners
Kenya will compel cryptocurrency exchanges and digital asset platforms to reveal the identities and transaction records of their customers, in a sweeping new tax proposal that would sharply reduce anonymity in one of Africa’s most active crypto markets.
Kenya will compel cryptocurrency exchanges and digital asset platforms to reveal the identities and transaction records of their customers, in a sweeping new tax proposal that would sharply reduce anonymity in one of Africa’s most active crypto markets.
Under amendments to the Finance Bill 2026, virtual asset service providers would be required to file annual returns with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) showing the names of Kenyan users, their transaction histories, and wallet activities. The bill proposes amendments to Kenya’s Tax Procedures Act, introducing Sections 6C and 6D that pull the country’s crypto economy into the formal tax net.
The proposals, now before parliament, mark one of the clearest signs yet that Nairobi intends to tighten oversight of a growing digital asset economy that has largely operated beyond the reach of traditional financial regulation.
“Each virtual asset service provider shall file an information return with the Commissioner in respect of all the virtual-asset users with which it maintains a relationship in every calendar year and that are identified as reportable users or as having controlling persons that are reportable persons,” reads the proposed Section 6C.
Under the proposed law, providing false information would attract a KES 100,000 ($775) fine for each false entry, up to three years in prison, or both, while omissions would carry similar financial penalties.
If approved, the rules would place Kenya alongside a growing number of governments moving to subject crypto platforms to the same disclosure standards as banks and other financial institutions, as authorities worldwide intensify efforts to track taxable income and illicit financial flows hidden in digital assets.
The proposed law would also widen Kenya’s cross-border tax surveillance powers. Section 6D of the bill allows the KRA to enter into information-sharing agreements with foreign tax authorities, potentially enabling the exchange of crypto-related financial data across jurisdictions.
“Kenya may enter into an agreement with another country for the automatic exchange of information relating to transactions involving virtual assets,” the Finance Bill 2026 said.
Kenya’s proposed disclosure rules mirror a global push to drag cryptocurrency trading into the regulatory mainstream and make it harder for investors to hide gains from tax authorities.
New international reporting standards developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) under the Cryptoasset Reporting Framework (CARF) took effect on January 1, 2026, requiring crypto platforms in participating jurisdictions to collect and report customer transaction data.
From 2027, tax authorities across more than 40 countries—including EU member states, Brazil, South Africa, and the Cayman Islands—are expected to begin exchanging information obtained from exchanges with foreign counterparts.
So far, 75 countries have committed to implementing the CARF framework, including major crypto hubs such as the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Switzerland, and Hong Kong, which are expected to begin exchanging data from 2028. Kenyan authorities say the tougher rules are aimed at curbing tax evasion and illicit financial activity in a fast-growing but opaque market that the KRA estimates processed about KES 2.4 trillion ($18.5 billion) between 2021 and 2022—equivalent to nearly a fifth of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
