Kenya's Crypto Firms Are Fighting Back Against Finance Bill 2026




 Kenya's blockchain industry came out swinging at the Kenya Blockchain and Crypto Conference 2026 in Nairobi this week. The target: proposed rules inside the Finance Bill 2026 and the draft Virtual Asset Service Providers framework that many local firms say are too expensive to survive.

The concern is not regulation itself. Industry players at the conference made that point clearly. What they are pushing back on is the cost of compliance, specifically a proposed Ksh.500 million capital requirement for crypto exchange operators and the proposed introduction of VAT on payment service provider fees.

Felix Macharia, CEO of Gotani Pay, put it plainly. He said the industry wants balanced rules that give local startups a fair shot against international players who come in with far greater financial resources. Without that balance, he argued, the market could end up in the hands of foreign firms before Kenyan companies even clear the licensing gate.

The stablecoin conversation added another layer. Apollo Sande of Luno highlighted how slow traditional cross-border payment systems remain, with some transactions taking up to three days to settle. Stablecoins, he said, offer a faster and cheaper alternative, especially for businesses operating across borders in Africa.

The Central Bank of Kenya and Capital Markets Authority are both at the table. CBK's Michael Eganza said regulators are focused on what digital tokens actually do, comparing stablecoin models to Kenya's mobile money infrastructure. That function-based approach may shape how the final regulations are written.

The Finance Bill 2026 was published on May 5, 2026. It is currently under parliamentary scrutiny. Kenyans received an estimated $19 billion in crypto inflows between mid-2024 and mid-2025, according to Chainalysis, which tells you how much is at stake in getting the rules right.

For full coverage of what Kenya's crypto industry is saying, the specific proposals drawing the most opposition, and what regulators are signalling behind the scenes, read the full breakdown at CryptoNewsLive.org.

This story is moving fast. Kenya's blockchain firms have a narrow window to shape the final framework before it is set in law.

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