[PRESS RELEASE – Johannesburg, South Africa, May 18th, 2026]
VALR, Africa’s leading digital asset infrastructure provider, served as diamond sponsor of the Kenya Blockchain & 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 up-and-coming digital asset hub on the African continent. He drew parallels between the country’s pioneering adoption and development of mobile money and the opportunities in payments, financial inclusion, and infrastructure on the digital asset front. Shelley Havemann, VALR’s Head of Payments, participated in a panel discussion on stablecoins, the future of payments, and VALR’s role in transforming finance.
VALR also hosted a meetup in the capital for business leaders in finance to explore partnership opportunities. These activities underscore 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 recognised for its early and pioneering adoption of mobile money, which has driven significant advances 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 finalisation of the supporting 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 base for digital asset growth. These steps reinforce the vision outlined in Mwangi’s keynote and position Kenya as an increasingly important digital asset market in Africa.
(Peter Mwangi, VALR’s Country Manager for Kenya)
VALR Brings Scale, Infrastructure, and Innovation
Founded in Johannesburg in 2018, VALR quickly grew to become South Africa’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume. It has since developed into Africa’s leading digital asset infrastructure provider. VALR processes more than 15 billion US dollars in stablecoin volumes annually and consistently ranks among the top 10 global minters of USDC. The platform serves over 1.8 million registered users and more than 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, lending, borrowing, 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, together with open API support for autonomous AI agents under the open Agent Skills Standard.
Through its conference participation 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 a comprehensive suite of products, including Spot Trading, Spot Margin, Perpetual Futures, Staking, Lending, Borrowing, OTC services, VALR Invest, Crypto Bundles, and VALR Pay. Licensed by South Africa’s FSCA, 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 a just financial future that upholds human dignity and the unity of mankind. For more information, visit valr.com.
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