Kenya seeks blockchain analytics tool to track crypto crime, with the markets regulator seeking a platform to monitor digital asset transactions and to regulate virtual asset firms under a newly enacted law. The platform would track Bitcoin, Ethereum and at least 20 other blockchains in real time and retrospectively, and would alert on high‑risk wallets and large transfers. Kenya is one of Africa’s largest crypto markets, with over six million users and about $19 billion in crypto received by residents from July 2024 to June 2025.
The Capital Markets Authority seeks a blockchain analytics platform to monitor digital asset transactions and regulate virtual asset firms under a newly enacted law. The platform would track Bitcoin, Ethereum and at least 20 other blockchains in real time and retrospectively. It would generate automated alerts for high‑risk wallets, large transfers, coin mixers, darknet‑linked addresses and sanctioned entities. The system would screen transactions against United Nations and U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions lists.
The requested platform would map relationships between wallets and reconstruct transaction timelines to show how assets move. It would trace funds across chains and assign risk scores tied to money laundering, ransomware, fraud and terrorism financing. The regulator also wants the tool to identify exchanges most used by Kenyans and to detect unlicensed offshore platforms serving the local market.
These described capabilities mirror tools sold by blockchain intelligence firms such as Chainalysis, TRM Labs and Elliptic. The Virtual Assets Service Providers Act was signed into law in October and took effect in November, giving Kenya its crypto framework. The law splits oversight between the Central Bank of Kenya and the Capital Markets Authority and aims to align with FATF anti‑money‑laundering standards.
The Virtual Assets Service Providers Act was signed into law by President William Ruto in October and took effect in November. The law gives Kenya a legal framework for virtual assets and allocates regulatory responsibility between the Central Bank of Kenya and the Capital Markets Authority. It establishes oversight mechanisms intended to align Kenya’s anti‑money‑laundering regime with Financial Action Task Force standards. The Act defines roles for supervisors of virtual asset service providers under the new framework.
No virtual asset firms have been licensed under the Act to date. The National Treasury published draft regulations in March to accompany the legislation. Existing virtual asset operators have been given until November 2026 to come into compliance with the law. The regulation timetable provides a deadline for existing operators to meet licensing and compliance requirements.
The Act establishes formal regulatory oversight for virtual asset activity in Kenya. It sets compliance expectations for industry participants.
The blockchain intelligence firms Chainalysis, TRM Labs and Elliptic sell analytics and forensics software with capabilities similar to those requested by the Capital Markets Authority. The article describes those capabilities as including tracking multiple blockchains, mapping relationships between wallets, reconstructing transaction timelines, tracing funds across chains, generating automated alerts for high‑risk wallets and large transfers, and assigning risk scores tied to money laundering, ransomware, fraud and terrorism financing. Those vendors are named in the request as providers whose products mirror the described platform features. The description frames the requested platform in terms comparable to tools marketed by these firms.
In the United States, Immigration and Customs Enforcement moved last year to buy forensics software from TRM Labs and Chainalysis. Chainalysis and TRM Labs hold contracts with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Internal Revenue Service. Britain’s HM Revenue & Customs has brought on TRM Labs to trace suspect transactions.
The Capital Markets Authority has requested a blockchain analytics platform with these capabilities to monitor digital asset transactions and regulate virtual asset firms. The Virtual Assets Service Providers Act was signed into law by President William Ruto in October and took effect in November. Kenya is pursuing blockchain analytics technology to support regulation of crypto crime under the new legislation.
