Kenya’s joint financial sector regulators forum has recommended the formation of a technical committee to create laws that will regulate crypto assets activities and players.

The forum has agreed to consider the National Treasury and Economic Planning recommendation to form a technical working group to establish a comprehensive oversight framework on crypto assets activities and players.

These recommendations will be subsequent to wide consultations and deliberations across the financial sector and other relevant stakeholders, the central bank said in a statement.

A recent McKinsey survey pointed out that more than ten African countries are currently in the process of launching central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa are already in the top ten Bitcoin trading volumes globally.

Although the influence of such innovations is difficult to predict, McKinsey expected cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and CBDCs to have material effects on the outlook for e-payments in region, citing that Africans tend to embrace innovation at scale and leapfrog into the future.

Reuters reported in June that cryptocurrencies pose risks to financial stability, but central bank digital currencies could solve certain problems, such as bringing the poor into the financial system or cutting transaction costs.  

(Editing by Cleofe Maceda; Cleofe.maceda@lseg.com)