Kenya’s markets regulator is moving to arm itself with a sophisticated blockchain surveillance system as it prepares to license and supervise virtual-asset firms under the country’s new crypto law.
Tender documents seen by Capital FM Africa show the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) is seeking an advanced analytics platform to monitor digital-asset flows, investigate suspicious activity, and enforce compliance. The requested system would cover Bitcoin, Ethereum and at least 20 other blockchains, operating both in real time and retrospectively.
Capabilities the CMA wants include:
- automated alerts for high-risk wallets, large transfers, coin mixers, darknet-linked addresses and sanctioned entities;
- screening against United Nations and U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions lists;
- mapping wallet relationships, reconstructing transaction timelines and tracing funds across chains; and
- assigning risk scores for money laundering, ransomware, fraud and terrorism financing.
The regulator also says it wants to identify which exchanges Kenyans use most and detect unlicensed offshore platforms serving the local market. Those features mirror products sold by established blockchain-intelligence firms such as Chainalysis, TRM Labs and Elliptic, which market similar tools to governments and regulators globally.
The procurement is tied to Kenya’s Virtual Assets Service Providers Act, signed by President William Ruto in October and effective the following November, which for the first time establishes a comprehensive crypto framework. Under the law, the Central Bank of Kenya will oversee payments, stablecoins and custodial wallets, while the CMA will regulate exchanges, brokers, investment advisers and tokenization platforms. The move is part of broader efforts to align with Financial Action Task Force anti-money-laundering standards. No virtual-asset firms have been licensed yet; the National Treasury published draft regulations in March and existing operators have until November 2026 to comply.
Kenya is one of Africa’s largest crypto markets. Chainalysis estimates residents received about $19 billion in crypto between July 2024 and June 2025, placing the country fourth on the continent, and more than six million Kenyans are thought to use digital assets—much of it through informal, peer-to-peer channels.
Other jurisdictions have pursued similar tools. In the U.S., Immigration and Customs Enforcement moved to procure forensics software from TRM Labs and Chainalysis, while both companies already hold contracts with agencies including the FBI, DEA and IRS. Britain’s tax authority, HMRC, has also engaged TRM Labs to trace suspect transactions.
If the CMA proceeds, the platform would give Kenyan authorities a powerful new capability to police an active and rapidly evolving crypto ecosystem—while signaling that regulators across Africa continue to adopt the same kind of blockchain surveillance technologies being used in the U.S. and Europe.
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