From presidential assent in Kenya to Binance’s 30-country expansion, it has been an action-packed three weeks as the crypto market gains ground and regulators flex new muscles.
October 2025 will go down as one of the most consequential months for global crypto and even more so for Africa, not just because Bitcoin touched an all-time high before plunging into one of history’s largest liquidation cascades, but because the continent’s regulatory infrastructure finally came of age. Kenya signed its VASP law, South Africa welcomed Ripple custody, Interpol and Binance coordinated historic busts, Nigeria’s SEC flagged $50B+ in annual crypto flows, and markets learned the hard way that overleveraged euphoria meets macro reality.
TL;DR
- After Bitcoin hit ~$126k on October 6, the Trump tariff shock (October 10) triggered a $19B+ liquidation cascade, leaving BTC trading between $104–113k mid-to-late month.
- Africa delivered policy certainty: Kenya’s VASP Act (Oct 15 assent), Ripple-Absa custody (Oct 15 launch), Operation Catalyst busts (Oct 22 reveal), Binance’s 30-country expansion (Oct 28), and Kenya’s crypto insurance framework (Oct 22 draft).
The three weeks encapsulate a market in transition, from years of informal P2P rails to licensed, bank-grade infrastructure growing under watchful eyes.
🇰🇪 Kenya: VASP Bill becomes law
President William Ruto signed the Virtual Asset Service Providers Bill into law on Wednesday, October 15, at 9 AM, bringing a two-year legislative journey that began with committee consultations in early 2023 to a close (or new beginning if you think about it).
The Act assigns licensing and supervisory duties to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and Capital Markets Authority (CMA), establishes operational safeguards and replaces the regulatory grey zone with a FATF-aligned framework.
Key milestones now:
- Gazette notice for commencement (expected within days/weeks)
- Treasury subsidiary regulations on licensing categories, capital adequacy, custody standards, disclosure templates, IT-audit scopes, and transition windows
- 12-month moratorium (transition period) for existing operators to align with the new framework
The law follows the Finance Act 2025, which repealed the 3% Digital Asset Tax and introduced a 10% excise on platform fees. This shifted taxation from asset value to service charges.
Why it matters: Kenya becomes one of the first African nations with comprehensive VASP legislation, joining South Africa (FSCA-licensed since 2022) and Nigeria (SEC-regulated since April 2025).
The law provides legal certainty for exchanges (Luno, Binance), wallets (KotaniPay, Fonbnk), on-ramps (Bitika, Swypt), and payment firms as the country exits the FATF grey list and meets IMF fiscal commitments. With Chainalysis ranking Kenya among the world’s top P2P markets (2020–21 leader) and $3.3B in stablecoin transactions (July 2023–June 2024), the stakes are high.
🇰🇪 Kenya: Insurance Regulatory Authority introduces crypto insurance
Kenya’s Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) published draft regulations introducing virtual assets insurance as business class 142, making it the first of its kind in East Africa. Kenyans who invest or trade in crypto could soon buy coverage protecting against hacking losses, employee theft, fraud, and other digital-asset risks. The move puts cryptocurrency coverage on equal regulatory footing with traditional insurance products.
Why it matters: The global digital-asset insurance market was valued at $2.3B in 2023 and is projected to reach $3.5B by 2032. Kenya’s regulatory clarity (VASP Act + insurance framework) creates a compliance-ready environment for both retail users and institutional players.
Africa: Interpol Operation Catalyst busts crypto terror-financing networks
Interpol and Afripol announced 83 arrests across six African countries (Angola, Cameroon, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, South Sudan) in Operation Catalyst (July–September 2025). This is the first coordinated crackdown targeting terrorism financing, money laundering, and cybercrime at the nexus of crypto. Authorities flagged $260M in illicit fiat and crypto, seizing $600k so far, and identified 160 persons of interest.
Key findings:
- $562M crypto Ponzi scheme spanning 17+ countries (including Nigeria, Kenya, Cameroon), defrauding 100,000+ victims. Several high-value wallets linked to terrorism financing. Investigations ongoing.
- Kenya: $430k money-laundering operation via a legitimate VASP, with 12 suspects identified (2 arrested). Separate case: 2 arrested for online recruitment into terrorist groups, funded via crypto donations traced to Tanzania.
- Red Notice issued for mastermind behind $5M crypto scam using multiple wallets/exchanges to obscure trails.
The operation involved data/intel from Binance, Moody’s, Uppsala Security, a clear watershed moment for public-private crypto collaboration.
Why it matters: As crypto adoption soars (Sub-Saharan Africa’s $205B on-chain volume, +52% YoY), so does exploitation. Operation Catalyst signals that African regulators and global law enforcement are no longer playing catch-up. For VASPs, the message is clear: KYC/AML isn’t optional. For users, it’s a reminder that the crypto economy is maturing beyond the “wild west” era where we were more or less on our own.
🇿🇦 South Africa: Ripple–Absa custody deal goes live
Ripple announced a strategic partnership with Absa Bank on October 15 to deliver institutional-grade digital asset custody in South Africa. Absa will leverage Ripple’s enterprise custody technology to store and manage cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets for institutional clients, positioning the bank among the first in Africa to handle both traditional and digital assets under one roof.
The partnership extends Ripple’s 2025 Africa strategy, which includes:
- Cross-border payments via Chipper Cash
- RLUSD stablecoin rollout across VALR, Yellow Card, and other platforms
Why it matters: South Africa’s FSCA-licensed VASP framework (live since 2022) and Absa’s pan-African footprint give Ripple a compliant launchpad to serve institutional clients across the continent. It’s a signal to other banks and fintechs: the on-ramp to the digital asset economy is open wide.
🌍 Africa: Binance expands to 30+ countries with local payment rails
Binance announced a massive expansion enabling users in 30+ African countries to buy crypto through direct fiat channels and P2P trading. The expansion supports Mobile Money, bank transfers, and card payments using local currencies including:
- Kenyan shillings (KES)
- West African CFA francs (XOF)
- Central African CFA francs (XAF)
- Ugandan shillings (UGX)
- Tanzanian shillings (TZS)
- South African rand (ZAR)
Binance integrated Wave for XOF transactions and launched One Click Buy & Sell in Kenya and Ivory Coast, allowing users to purchase/sell crypto via mobile money directly. I noticed this myself when I went in to buy some bitcoin (though I stopped halfway through 😀 ) South Africa enables ZAR deposits via bank transfer (Fiat Deposit feature), card payments via OCBS(explained below), and P2P trading with zero transaction fees for certain assets.
Why it matters: By offering low-cost, mobile money–integrated on-ramps while leading in the lobbying for regulation (it was key in the passing of the VASP bill in Kenya), Binance is positioning itself as the continent’s compliance-ready exchange. All users must complete mandatory identity verification.
OCBS: Off-Chain Banking System (OCBS) that allows crypto exchanges to settle fiat currency (like USD or KES) deposits and withdrawals without recording every transaction on the public blockchain.
🇳🇬 Nigeria: SEC flags $50B+ crypto flows as 67% use crypto to save/invest
Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Director-General Dr. Emomotimi Agama revealed that Nigerians transacted over $50B in crypto between July 2023–June 2024, with stablecoins accounting for ~$21.8B. Yet fewer than 4% of adults invest in the capital market (roughly 3M people), while 60M+ Nigerians bet daily, wagering $5.5M.
New research by Quidax shows 67% of Nigerian crypto users save and invest, not speculate, by monitoring FX rates and converting Naira to stablecoins to protect purchasing power amid inflation.
Why it matters: Nigeria’s $50B+ crypto economy dwarfs its formal capital market, exposing a trust gap. The SEC’s capital-markets-focused regime may not fit everyday users treating crypto like consumer finance. If VASPs were supervised like fintechs under the CBN’s payments framework (risk-based flexibility, operational safety, fraud prevention), the rules could better match reality. The question: will Nigeria adapt, or will regulatory friction push activity underground?
💸 Markets: from ATH to $19B+ liquidation cascade
Bitcoin touched an all-time high of ~$126,198 on October 6, then plunged to ~$104,000 by October 10–11 after President Trump announced 100% tariffs on Chinese imports. The tariff shock hit after U.S. markets closed, leaving crypto as the sole outlet for global risk-off sentiment.
Over 24 hours, $19.13B in leveraged positions were liquidated, making it the largest single-day event in crypto history, affecting 1.6M traders and dwarfing FTX (2022) and COVID (2020) wipeouts.
Analysts attributed the cascade to:
- Global economic worries: Tensions between the U.S. and China spooked investors, while the U.S. dollar strengthened and government bond returns climbed, making crypto look riskier by comparison.
- Too much borrowed money: Traders had bet over $52 billion using borrowed funds (leverage) before the crash. When prices dropped, these bets got automatically closed out, creating a domino effect. About 70% of crypto trading now happens through these high-risk leveraged bets.
- Big investors pulling out: Bitcoin and Ethereum investment funds (ETFs), which had been steady buyers, saw hundreds of millions of dollars withdrawn after the crash as institutional investors got nervous.
Mid-to-late October, BTC stabilized in the $104–113k range (~11–16% below ATH, but still up YTD); ETH hovered around $3.9–4.2k.
Market Watch
- BTC: Trading $104-113k range late October after $19B+ liquidation flush; ~11–16% below Oct 6 ATH ($126k) but still up YTD.
- ETH: Slipped toward $3.9-4.2k band alongside majors
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