The Kenya National Treasury is seeking powers to identify and seize abandoned or inactive cryptocurrency assets as the government steps up efforts to bring digital assets under regulatory oversight.
The proposal raises questions about how authorities will
- define dormant crypto holdings,
- establish ownership, and
- distinguish genuinely abandoned assets from wallets whose owners are simply inactive.
The National Treasury has proposed bringing dormant cryptocurrencies and stablecoins under the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA), allowing the State to take custody of digital assets deemed abandoned.
The proposal, contained in The Unclaimed Financial Assets National Policy 2026 draft, would expand UFAA’s mandate beyond bank accounts, shares, and other traditional financial assets to include digital currencies held on exchanges and other platforms.
The move comes as Kenya’s crypto market expands. Kenyans transacted KES 740 billion ($5.7 billion) in cryptocurrencies in the year to June 2026, up from KES 505 billion ($3.89 billion) a year earlier, according to Chainalysis.
The Treasury is seeking clearer rules for identifying, valuing, and surrendering unclaimed digital assets. The framework would also require asset holders to establish efforts to trace rightful owners before transferring abandoned holdings to UFAA.
The proposal does not mean the government can immediately confiscate inactive personal wallets. It remains subject to legal and regulatory changes.
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