PARLIAMENT APPROVES CRYPTO BILL

Kenyan lawmakers have passed a bill to regulate digital assets like cryptocurrencies, a key legislator said on Monday, as it seeks to attract investments into the sector by offering a clear framework for the new industry.

The legislators approved the Virtual Asset Service Providers Bill last week, the chairman of the national assembly finance committee Kuria Kimani said, seeking to address concerns over the lack of clear rules to govern the industry.

The move brings the East African nation one step closer to following the likes of South Africa as the only African nations to have laws for governing the digital assets industry, he said, adding that President William Ruto now needs to sign it into law.
The bill makes the central bank the licensor of the issuance of stablecoins and other virtual assets, with the capital markets regulator licensing those who wish to operate crypto exchanges and other trading platforms.

The move by the government comes as countries now brace for a boom in U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins that global regulators have warned could destabilize less developed economies' own currencies.

The clarity that is expected legally is likely to attract more investment in financial technology sector like from crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase, Kimani said, citing past engagement between those platforms and the government.

"We hope that Kenya can now be the gateway to Africa," he said. "The majority of the youth between the ages of 18 and 35 years are now utilizing virtual assets for trading, payment settlement and as a form of investment or doing business."

While the digital assets sector has expanded tremendously globally over the past decade, regulation has remained a problem area as governments struggle with how to prevent criminals from exploiting the anonymity of the systems.

The Kenyan legislation has drawn on best practices from other nations such as the United States and Britain, Kimani explained.

Kenya is also recognized for pioneering mobile-phone-based financial services, and its M-Pesa product -- operated by telecoms company Safaricom -- provides money transfer, savings and investment services to tens of millions of people.