Kenya / Licence categories / Token Issuance Platform

Token Issuance Platform

Token Issuance Platform: licensed by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA). Minimum paid-up capital KSh 20 million, licence fee KSh 500,000.

Regulator

Licensed by the CMA · checked 22 Oct 2026
Kenya has two licensing authorities; the First Schedule of the Act assigns each activity to one of them.

Regulator

Capital Markets Authority (CMA), per the First Schedule of the Act. VASP Act 2025, First Schedule official

What it covers

Token issuance platform: a tokenisation platform for the issuance and secondary trading of tokens of real-world assets. VASP Act 2025, First Schedule official

Minimum paid-up capital

KSh 20,000,000, held at licensing and at all times after; shareholder loans, borrowed money and revaluation reserves do not count (reg. 85(3) and (5)). VASP Regulations 2026, Fifth Schedule official

Liquid capital

KSh 4,000,000 or 8% of total liabilities, whichever is higher. VASP Regulations 2026, Fifth Schedule official

Fees

Application fee KSh 100,000 (forfeited if the application is withdrawn, reg. 5(2)); licence fee KSh 500,000; annual renewal KSh 500,000 or 0.15% of gross turnover, whichever is higher. VASP Regulations 2026, First Schedule official

In practice

Token issuance platforms are the venues on which tokenised real-world assets are issued and then traded. They carry exchange-style obligations: CMA-approved business and default rules, due diligence on every token admitted, monthly listing reports, and a ban on listing a token that failed to reach the minimum subscription set in its white paper. Capital fell from KSh 200 million in the draft to KSh 20 million in the final text. Two further duties are specific to tokenised assets on these venues: each issuer must disclose any additional tokens issued against the same real-world asset and any new smart contract that affects it (reg. 65(e) and (f)), and the default rules of the platform must allow it to act on unsettled trades when a buyer cannot pay (reg. 20(5)).

Category-specific duties

• have CMA-approved business and default rules, like an exchange (reg. 20)
• only list a virtual asset that reached the minimum subscription in its approved white paper (reg. 60(3))

VASP Regulations 2026, Parts III to IX official

Deadline for existing operators

Anyone already providing virtual asset services must comply with the Act within one year of its commencement on 4 November 2025 (s. 47), which by our calculation is 4 November 2026. The Regulations contain no further transition period. VASP Act 2025, s. 47 official

Register

The CMA must publish a register of the licences it issues (s. 17) and gazette each grant within 30 days (s. 10(7)). We found no published VASP register; the CMA licensee directory, checked 22 Oct 2026, has no virtual-asset category. CMA licensee directory official

Group

Token offerings (Group)

Public statement

Not applicable: this page describes a licence category, not a firm.

Key Dates for This Category

• 4 Nov 2025The VASP Act 2025 commences; the activity needs a licence from the CMA (s. 8(2)). — new.kenyalaw.org official
• 22 Jul 2026The VASP Regulations 2026 (Legal Notice 134) set capital, fees and conduct rules for the category and open licensing. — cma.or.ke official
• 4 Nov 2026End of the one-year window for existing providers to comply (s. 47; date calculated by VASP Tracker). — new.kenyalaw.org official

Read More

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