Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) says its position on cryptocurrency has not changed despite rising adoption of the technology in Kenya. Governor Patrick Njoroge (pictured) said yesterday the bank would issue a comprehensive statement on the matter maintained that CBK’s view on the matter remains the same.

In 2016, the regulator issued a statement cautioning the public against trading in cryptocurrencies adding that those engaging in the trade have no recourse in case of any risk they may face.

Bitcoin is a form of un-regulated digital currency that is not issued or guaranteed by any government or central bank.

However, domestic and international money transfer services in the country are regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya Act and other legislation. In this regard, no entity is currently licensed to offer money remittance services and products in Kenya using virtual currency such as Bitcoin,” the banking sector regulator said in a statement.

“This is to inform the public that virtual currencies such as Bitcoin are not legal tender in Kenya and therefore no protection exists in the event that the platform that exchanges or holds the virtual currency fails or goes out of business,” the regulator had said in a statement issued in 2016.   

Kenyans have been rated as the most active users of crypto technology for transactions, especially bitcoin in Africa relative to population size.

The latest report shows that at least 4.5 million have bitcoin accounts. Kenya also had the highest peer to peer transactions of Bitcoin in Africa in 2020, according to Chain analysis, a World Bank funded crypto tracking platform.