stable coins
By Evie Vavasseur
1 / 15
Kenya's Capital Demands Spark Pushback. Kenya released draft VASP Regulations 2026 on March 17. The numbers are pretty wild.
2 / 15
Nigeria Flips From Ban to Pilot Program. Nigeria's shift is kind of remarkable. The Central Bank launched an AML supervision pilot on March…
3 / 15
Four countries across the Middle East and Africa rolled out major crypto regulatory moves in the first quarter of this year.
4 / 15
The push comes as global regulators try to catch up with crypto's explosive growth. Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority dropped a new Exchange Services Rulebook on March…
5 / 15
Kenya released draft VASP Regulations 2026 on March 17. The numbers are pretty wild. Stablecoin issuers might need to hold KES 500 million—that's $3.86 million—just to operate.
6 / 15
Kenya's crypto market isn't small. Between July 2024 and June 2025, the country saw $19 billion in crypto inflows. That puts Kenya at 21st globally for crypto adoption.
7 / 15
South Africa took a different route. The FSCA built what looks like the region's most mature regulatory setup.
8 / 15
The country got off the FATF grey list in October 2025, and crypto reforms played a role. South Africa implemented the OECD's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework early this year.
9 / 15
Nigeria's shift is kind of remarkable. The Central Bank launched an AML supervision pilot on March 31 with six entities. KuCoin and Flutterwave made the list.
10 / 15
The pilot runs on monthly performance indicators and governance reviews. Nigeria's market is massive—$92.1 billion in crypto transactions between July 2024 and June 2025.
11 / 15
But cross-border recognition? Doesn't exist yet. These four jurisdictions don't recognize each other's frameworks, which creates headaches for operators working across borders.
12 / 15
See also: Sberbank Eyes Crypto Trading for 110 Million Customers as Russia Shapes Digital Asset Rules
13 / 15
The enforcement picture varies a lot. Dubai and South Africa went hard on compliance—penalties, investigations, the works.
14 / 15
Dubai's rulebook is comprehensive, covering derivatives with clear leverage limits. Nigeria's pilot only includes six entities, so it's way more limited in scope.
15 / 15
The lack of coordination between these jurisdictions is a real gap. Operators face different standards depending on where they work. One country might demand $3.
The Currency Analytics
Want the full story?