IMF requires Kenya to legislate the implementation of the travel rule, sharing crypto user identity information with authorities.

November 10, according to Business Daily, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has required Kenya to mandate cryptocurrency companies to share customer identity information with the government to prevent money laundering and to push for legislation to implement the "Travel Rule." The rule requires virtual asset service providers to collect, verify, and share sender and receiver identity information when crypto transfers occur, with relevant data to be shared among service providers and with Kenya's Financial Reporting Centre (FRC).

The Travel Rule is an international anti-money laundering standard set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Kenya has been on the FATF "grey list" since February 2024 due to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing gaps. In its latest recommendations, the IMF stated that "significant gaps remain related to FATF requirements regarding the exchange of information on crypto asset transfers" and demanded that relevant obligations be incorporated as soon as possible into the recently published Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) Regulations or other appropriate legal instruments. Previously, local service providers were already required to retain Kenyan customer identities and complete transaction records for tax purposes, with trading platforms withholding digital asset tax at a 3% rate and remitting it to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

Chainalysis data shows that in the year ending June 2026, Kenya's crypto transfer volume reached a record 740 billion Kenyan shillings (approximately $5.7 billion), surpassing Ethiopia to become Africa's third-largest crypto economy after South Africa and Nigeria. Local crypto activity is dominated by stablecoins, with Bitcoin accounting for only 2.0% of transactions, lower than Nigeria's 92%, Ghana's 59%, and South Africa's 22%. The IMF also noted that peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions are relatively common in Kenya, which market participants believe has fueled scams.