NAIROBI, Kenya Nov 18 – Bitcoin ATMs have been installed in several major malls across Nairobi just days after Kenya’s new law on virtual assets came into force, signalling a fresh push to take cryptocurrency services into mainstream retail spaces.
The orange–branded “Bankless Bitcoin” machines have been spotted at shopping centres in Gigiri, including Two Rivers Mall, Westlands, along Ngong Road, where they sit alongside conventional bank ATMs.
The kiosks allow users to buy and sell Bitcoin, making cash–to–crypto transactions in public spaces that attract thousands of shoppers daily.
Their arrival coincides with the commencement of the Virtual Assets Service Providers Act, 2025, which became effective on 4 November after being gazetted on 21 October.
In a joint public notice, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) said the law “provides the legislative framework for regulating and supervising Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) in Kenya” and “outlines obligations of VASPs in the prevention of money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing.”
The Act designates CBK and CMA as joint regulators responsible for licensing, supervising and regulating all VASPs operating in or from Kenya. The authorities will license providers in line with categories set out in the First Schedule of the law, covering services such as exchanges, custodial wallets and other digital asset platforms.
According to the notice dated 18 November, the National Treasury is now drawing up detailed regulations to operationalise the law. “The Cabinet Secretary, National Treasury… is developing and shall issue Regulations for further guidance on implementation of the Act,” CBK and CMA stated, adding that licensing of VASPs “will commence upon issuance of these Regulations.”
Despite the appearance of new Bitcoin ATMs, the regulators stressed that no operator has yet been formally approved.
“Currently CBK and CMA have not licensed any VASPs under the Act to operate in or from Kenya,” the notice warned, cautioning that any firm claiming to be licensed is doing so illegally.
From Kibera backstreets to upmarket malls
While the mall installations mark some of the most visible crypto infrastructure in Nairobi’s formal retail economy, Bitcoin has already been circulating in lower–income neighbourhoods, particularly in Kibera, for the last few years.
In Soweto West, a village within Kibera, Afrobit Africa – a Kenyan fintech start-up – began experimenting with Bitcoin–denominated grants in 2022. The project targeted local garbage collectors, many of whom lacked IDs, bank accounts or access to mobile money.
After weekend clean-ups, workers are paid a few dollars’ worth of Bitcoin instead of shillings. AfriBit Africa estimates it has injected about $10,000 (roughly Sh1.3 million) into the community through these grants, turning the collectors into early adopters and informal ambassadors for crypto.
“In many cases, people in Kibera do not have an opportunity to secure their lives with normal savings,” AfriBit Africa co-founder Ronnie Mdawida has said previously. With Bitcoin, he argues, residents can hold value without documentation or bank paperwork – a form of “financial freedom” for people living on about a dollar a day.
Today, around 200 people in Soweto West are estimated to use Bitcoin. A handful of merchants and boda boda riders accept payment in crypto, relying on the Lightning network for near–free transactions when using platforms introduced by the project.
For some residents, digital currency already feels more efficient than Kenya’s ubiquitous mobile money system.
Damiano Magak, a 23-year-old garbage collector and food seller, says he often prefers being paid in Bitcoin rather than via M-PESA, citing higher transaction fees and occasional delays on the telco network.
Promise and risk
Supporters say the spread of Bitcoin – from informal settlements like Kibera to high-end Nairobi malls – reflects its appeal as a borderless, democratic technology and as a store of value akin to digital gold. Globally, Bitcoin prices have surged almost 1,000 per cent over the last five years, drawing in investors and everyday users alike.
But the same volatility, combined with years of regulatory uncertainty in Kenya, has worried policymakers and financial experts. The new law is designed to bring order to a sector that has largely operated in grey areas, including unregulated exchanges, speculative schemes and aggressive crypto giveaways.
By formalising oversight, CBK and CMA say they want to protect consumers and the financial system while still allowing innovation. The Act, they note in the notice, places VASPs under clear anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism-financing obligations and sets out licensing conditions that will apply once regulations are finalised.
Until then, the bright orange Bitcoin ATMs in Nairobi’s malls – and the smartphones quietly buzzing with Bitcoin payments in Kibera’s backstreets – sit at the intersection of Kenya’s past crypto free-for-all and a tightly regulated digital–asset future.
