Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority Moves to Buy Blockchain Surveillance Tool

Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority is seeking to procure a blockchain analytics platform capable of monitoring more than 20 networks, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, as the regulator prepares to license and supervise virtual asset firms under a new legal framework, according to tender documents seen by Capital FM Africa.

The move marks one of the clearest signals yet that African financial regulators are following their counterparts in Europe, the UK and the United States in building institutional-grade surveillance infrastructure for digital assets, rather than relying solely on enforcement after the fact.

A new legal mandate to police crypto

The tender follows the Virtual Assets Service Providers Act of 2025, which brought Kenya’s cryptocurrency sector under formal regulatory oversight for the first time. The Capital Markets Authority is now responsible for licensing and supervising firms operating in the country’s virtual asset market, a role that requires the kind of transaction-tracing tools already used by financial regulators and law enforcement agencies elsewhere.

According to the tender documents, the sought-after platform would need to track transactions across Bitcoin, Ethereum and at least 20 other blockchain networks. Its stated purpose is to flag fraud, money laundering, terrorism financing and sanctions evasion — the same categories of financial crime that have driven blockchain analytics procurement by regulators and central banks in wealthier jurisdictions.

Institutional infrastructure over enforcement headlines

For a regulator moving from having no formal crypto oversight to full licensing authority in the space of a year, the acquisition of surveillance software represents a foundational step rather than a response to any single incident. Blockchain analytics tools of this kind typically allow authorities to trace the flow of funds across public ledgers, cluster wallet addresses, and cross-reference transactions against sanctions lists and known illicit actors.

The decision to seek a multi-chain platform, rather than one focused narrowly on Bitcoin, reflects the reality that Kenya’s virtual asset market — like most globally — spans a wide range of networks and stablecoins used for remittances, trading and payments. Effective supervision under the new Act would require visibility across that broader ecosystem rather than a single blockchain.

Part of a wider regulatory pattern

Kenya’s initiative sits within a broader global trend of regulators building forensic capacity alongside new crypto legislation, rather than treating licensing as a purely administrative exercise. The Capital Markets Authority’s approach — procuring surveillance infrastructure in tandem with its new licensing powers — mirrors steps taken by regulators in the European Union and United Kingdom as they implement their own digital asset regimes.

How quickly the platform is deployed, and how it is integrated into the CMA’s licensing and enforcement processes, will shape the credibility of Kenya’s new virtual asset regime as it seeks to attract legitimate industry participants while deterring illicit use.

Read more: SEC’s 2026 Agenda Signals Shift From Enforcement to Rulemaking for Crypto Brokers