Kenyan President William Ruto has invited the leadership of Marathon Digital company and US Trade Minister Gina Raimondo for consultations on cryptocurrency mining regulation in the country. Kenyan authorities want to receive recommendations from experts on the optimal electricity consumption by local mining companies, so as not to have a negative impact on Kenya’s energy system.
Former Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya Patrick Njoroge has been strongly against cryptocurrencies until recently. He has repeatedly warned about the risks of using digital assets and criticized the idea of converting the country’s reserves into bitcoins as absurd. After his resignation, the Kenyan government changed its position and focused on finding ways to regulate the cryptocurrency market. A complete ban was taken off the table, and now authorities are working on creating a regulatory framework for this sphere.
Last year, the Kenyan government engaged the Kenyan Blockchain Association to develop new laws related to virtual assets. In 2023, the Finance Act was passed that introduced a 3% tax on the transfer and exchange of cryptocurrencies. This law has been criticized by the association, which believes that different types of digital assets, such as NFTs, tokenized stocks, stablecoins, and utility tokens, should be regulated differently.
