Johannesburg, South Africa, May 18, 2026, Chainwire
valrAfrica’s leading digital asset infrastructure provider, acted as the Diamond Sponsor of the Kenya Blockchain and Crypto Conference held in Nairobi on 14 and 15 May 2026.
Peter Mwangi, VALR’s newly appointed Country Manager for Kenya, delivered a keynote address in which he outlined his vision for Kenya as an emerging digital asset hub on the African continent. He drew parallels between the leading adoption and growth of mobile money in the country and opportunities in payments, financial inclusion and infrastructure on the digital asset front. Shelley Haveman, Head of Payments at VALR, participated in a panel discussion on stablecoins, the future of payments, and VALR's role in transforming finance.
VALR also hosted a meeting in the capital for business leaders from the finance sector to explore partnership opportunities. These activities underline VALR’s strategic focus on Kenya and its support for the country’s emerging digital asset ecosystem.
Kenya's digital finance leadership and recent regulatory progress
Kenya is known for being an early and pioneering adopter of mobile money, which has led to significant progress in financial inclusion, payments and broader economic participation across the continent. Recent regulatory developments have strengthened this foundation. The Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) Act was enacted in October 2025 and came into force in November 2025. The finalization of subsidiary 2026 VASP regulations under the Capital Markets Authority establishes a clear licensing and oversight framework. This framework aligns Kenya with international standards, promotes investor protection and responsible innovation, and creates a solid foundation for digital asset development. These steps reinforce the vision outlined in Mwangi’s keynote speech and position Kenya as an increasingly important digital asset market in Africa.
(Peter Mwangi, VALR Country Manager for Kenya)
VALR brings scale, infrastructure and innovation
Founded in Johannesburg in 2018, VALR quickly became South Africa's largest crypto exchange by trading volume. It has since grown into Africa's leading digital asset infrastructure provider. VALR processes over US$15 billion in stablecoin volume annually and is consistently ranked among the top 10 global miners of USDC. The platform serves more than 1.8 million registered users and over 2,000 corporate and institutional clients, including companies listed on the JSE and Nasdaq.
VALR offers institutional-grade infrastructure, including API integration, multi-account management, governance controls, an OTC desk, staking, borrowing, lending, VALR Pay, and Crypto-as-a-Service solutions that power other institutions' offerings. The company also recently launched its AI service, which features an intuitive chat assistant for market analysis, account insights and support, along with open API support for autonomous AI agents under the Open Agent Skills Standard.
Through its conference partnerships and Nairobi Meetup, VALR is bringing this proven expertise and infrastructure directly to Kenyan institutions and the wider African market. VALR welcomes discussions with Kenyan financial institutions and businesses interested in partnership opportunities.
About VALR
Founded in 2018, headquartered in Johannesburg, and backed by leading investors including Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures and Fidelity's F-Prime Capital, VALR is a global crypto exchange, and the leading digital asset infrastructure provider on the African continent, offering spot trading, spot margin, perpetual futures, staking, lending, borrowing, OTC services, VALR Invest, crypto bundles and VALR offers a comprehensive suite of products including. Make payment. Licensed by the FSCA of South Africa, with regulatory approval in Europe, VALR serves over 1.8 million registered users and 2,000 corporate and institutional clients worldwide. The Exchange is dedicated to advancing an equitable financial future that upholds human dignity and the unity of mankind. For more information, visit valr.com.
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