Unclaimed cryptocurrencies and stablecoins will be surrendered to the State if a proposal by the Treasury to seize idle digital assets is adopted.
This will see the digital currencies join the list of assets, including shares, bank accounts, safe deposits, and bankers’ cheques, that can be seized and controlled by the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA), a State agency.
The Treasury has recommended widening the list of idle assets it can seize amid the growing use of digital currencies for everyday finance like cross-border payments and investments.
Kenyans wired a record Sh740 billion ($5.7 billion) worth of cryptocurrencies in the year to June 2026, up from Sh505 billion ($3.89 billion) a year earlier, according to Chainalysis- a global crypto analytics firm.
‘The existing framework inadequately covers near-cash and digital assets, creating valuation risks and ambiguity,’ says the draft Unclaimed Financial Assets National Policy, published by the Treasury.
The policy defines financial assets as ‘cash, near cash, cash equivalent and any other assets that can readily be converted into cash’.
These include cash, deposits, account balances, securities, dividends, insurance benefits, retirement benefits, payment instruments, proceeds, refunds, overpayments, mobile money wallets and digital assets.’
The digital assets are increasingly being used for cross-border payments, remittances, investments and payments for goods and services.
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) technical report published last week noted that data suggests that Kenya is the fourth-largest crypto market in sub-Saharan Africa, where one participant in a survey covered by the report told the fund that data put crypto transactions at Sh779.7 billion ($6 billion) in 2025.
A different market participant told the IMF that stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency that maintains value to real-world assets like fiat currencies and commodities, accounted for between Sh389.8 billion ($3 billion) and Sh519.8 billion ($4 billion).
‘Most market participants suggested that retail activity drives crypto markets in Kenya, with one providing a figure of 90 percent,’ the IMF said.
The heavy participation of individuals in the cryptocurrency market suggests that the assets are likely to end up abandoned in crypto exchanges and digital wallets.
Kenya is likely to borrow from jurisdictions like the US when adding digital assets to its list of unclaimed financial assets.
The US lists cryptocurrencies as reportable unclaimed financial assets, following amendments undertaken in 2016 to add the virtual currencies to the definition of reportable unclaimed financial assets.
At least 20 US States have enacted specific provisions to govern the transfer and handling of dormant digital assets.
Some US states require a holder to liquidate inactive digital assets and deliver the cash proceeds to the state treasuries as abandoned property after three to five years of inactivity.
Others demand that the holders deliver abandoned digital assets in their native form to an approved state custodian.
Crypto held on custodial platforms like exchanges and fintech applications is generally declared dormant or abandoned after three to five years of inactivity.
Kenya’s draft Unclaimed Financial Assets National Policy proposes a review of the legal framework to provide a clear and comprehensive coverage of all financial asset classes to reduce ambiguity and increase reunification.
‘The government will review, harmonise, and strengthen the legal and regulatory framework governing unclaimed financial assets to address these gaps, enhance compliance, improve enforcement, and support efficient, inclusive, and transparent management of all financial asset classes,’ the policy says.
A survey by UFAA showed that the estimated value of assets held increased from Sh241 billion in 2018 to Sh394 billion in 2025.
Over the same period, the value of assets reunified increased from Sh199 million, or a 1.5 percent reunification rate in 2018, to Sh2.8 billion (an eight percent reunification rate) in 2025.
The rate of reunification for the idle assets has remained below a medium-term target of 20 percent and the global benchmark of 40 percent.
The law requires the holding company to search for the rightful owners of an asset before declaring it unclaimed and forwarding it to UFAA.
Most of the unclaimed assets are attributed to failure by the deceased to inform the beneficiaries of the assets besides the absence of a will.
Wealthy Kenyans are also shying away from claiming the billions of shillings in idle assets surrendered to the State.
UFAA currently notes Sh115.03 billion in remittances from holders of idle assets into its Trust Fund Account, including cash held in foreign currency.
The authority also notes 2.03 billion units of idle shares, 4,200 safe deposit boxes, and 9.9-million-unit trusts.
UFAA has so far received and paid claims amounting to Sh2.84 billion from 39,203 claimants.
Policy suggestions to enhance the surrender, management and reunification of unclaimed financial assets include enhancing UFAA’s institutional capacity for management by strengthening human resource capacity, decentralising operations to enhance coverage in compliance and leveraging modern tech systems to support data management and automation.
The Treasury is also pushing for standardised reporting formats to include minimum data requirements for all asset holders.
Foreign currency-denominated assets will meanwhile be reported and surrendered in Kenyan shilling terms at prevailing exchange rates under the new robust framework for receipt, custody and safeguarding.