Kenya Has Two Weeks To Decide If Bitcoin Is A Legal Tender Kenyan MPs have given the Treasury secretary a two-week deadline by which they must decide the outcome of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, precisely regarding their status as legal tender in the nation of 48 million people. The deadline follows a warning issued in April by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). The National Planning Committee and Finance have asked agency officials to explain the acceptance of cryptocurrency trading in Kenya, as well as why the Treasury and the CBK were authorizing the free-for-all currencies to be traded and capitalized in with no licensing process or capital gains tax being required, echoing the acquainted situation being seen in nations around the world as government regulators begin to lastly take notice of the flow in crypto trading. In December 2015 the CBK did issue a notice to the public warning the public about the use of digital currencies, stating in the document that “virtual currencies such as Bitcoin are not legal tender in Kenya and therefore no protection exists in the event that the platform that exchanges or holds the virtual currency fails or goes out of business.” The notice goes on to list other risks associated with cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency Exchange Currently, Henry Rotich, head of macroeconomics at Treasury, disapproved the instability of cryptocurrencies by directing out the dramatic fall in bitcoin’s value seen over the last several months as an example, which possibly does not augur well for the classification of crypto as legal tender in Kenya. According to Rotich, cryptocurrency is still under review by the government in terms of whether it would be allowed to flourish in the country or be prohibited and regulated, pointing out the potential to facilitate money laundering as one of the primary concerns surrounding the technology. According to CCN, India lately went through the same procedure as Kenya is experiencing now, eventually ruling that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were not lawful tenders Must Read recommended by The post Kenya Has Two Weeks To Decide If Bitcoin Is A Legal Tender appeared first on OWLT Market.