The Kenyan government and central bank have for the last two years been debating on ways to regulate bitcoin and other digital currencies. The Central Bank of Kenya cautioned the general public in March of 2018 about virtual currency investments. After which the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) warned the public again after looking into a project called Kenicoin which allegedly sold 10 million tokens and promised monthly returns of 10% after the initial purchase.



Increase in Trade Volumes



Despite all the efforts made by financial regulators to warn people off trading digital currencies, merchants and traders in Kenya are still diving into the crypto asset economy.

Kenyans have a large pool of exchanges to choose from when they want to buy virtual currencies such as bitcoin. This includes Bitpesa, Coindirect, Paxful, Remitano , Belfrics , and local bitcoins. For Localbitcoins, its trading volume has been consistently strong in Kenya, it present BTC trade volumes is 29,701,339 Kenya shillings (($297,000).



Paxful trade volumes, when converted to Kenya shillings, has also been higher compared to the usual, with 4,679,664 KES ($48,000) traded over the course of the last two weeks on the peer-to-peer exchange. A BTC pairs analysis by Crypto Compare has revealed that bitcoin core (BTC) purchases account for $3,418 (KES 341,876) in daily trades stemming from Stocks Exchange.



The Blockchain Association of Kenya (BAK) has revealed during an interview that the rate at which Kenyans are accepting digital currency keeps increasing despite the incessant warnings been issued by regulators in the region. Kenyans are opting for bitcoin and digital assets as a form of payment for education in Kenya and Nigeria and also to buy products in China. Bitcoin has been empowering people in Kenya to become freelancers as they believe that the non-profit organisation believes blockchain-based currencies can help reduce transaction costs and boost local remittances.

The Healthland Spa in Nairobi was in the news last December for accepting BTC as a form of payment for goods and services. The Chief Executive at the Spa, Tony Mwongera gave his reason for the adoption as using it to avoid being robbed but he also said that it makes business operations convenient.

The Healthland Spa in Nairobi was in the news last December for accepting BTC as a form of payment for goods and services. The Chief Executive at the Spa, Tony Mwongera gave his reason for the adoption as using it to avoid being robbed but he also said that it makes business operations convenient.