Alleged Kenyan Bill Proposes Widening Definition of Securities to Include Crypto Assets

A bill seeking to put blockchain and crypto assets under the purview of the Kenyan Capital Markets Authority is supposedly set to be debated in the country’s parliament. The bill also seeks to “widen the meaning of ‘securities’ to capture digital currencies.” The persons that receive licenses from the regulator are also required to maintain records of all digital currency transactions and to pay taxes on any gains made.

According to Amboko Julians, a Kenyan economist and blogger, the East African nation’s parliament is set to debate a bill that proposes to place blockchain technology and digital currencies under the purview of Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA). Besides seeking to incorporate the definitions of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, Julians claimed that the bill also proposes “to widen the meaning of ‘securities’ to capture digital currencies.”

In his March 28 Twitter thread, Julians shared the supposed screenshots of the bill that is being sponsored by the Kenyan legislator Abraham Kipsang Kirwa. As shown in the screenshots, Kirwa’s bill proposes that persons seeking to introduce a cryptocurrency must first obtain a license from the capital markets regulator.

“A person who intends to introduce a new cryptocurrency product shall make an application to the Authority in the prescribed form for a licence,” reads the alleged bill.

The bill adds that the person making the application will also have to demonstrate to the regulator that the cryptocurrency in question “was subjected to a product development period of not less than two years.” In addition, the regulator will have to be satisfied that the crypto was subjected to a product test “on a customer base of not less than ten thousand.”

To Kenyan residents who are recipients of the digital currency trading licenses, the bill says such persons must register with the CMA. They are also required to maintain records of all digital currency transactions and to pay taxes on any gains made.

Meanwhile, the bill also proposes that anyone in Kenya who possesses or trades digital currencies must disclose the amount of crypto held, as well as when this was acquired and disposed of. If the bill is passed by the Kenyan parliament, persons trading in digital currencies will be required to apply for a license from the CMA within six months.

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