The Virtual Assets Chamber of Commerce has launched the Standards Council and the Virtual Assets Institute to strengthen trust, coordination, and professionalism across Africa’s virtual asset industry.
Together, they mark a decisive shift from informal experimentation toward a structured ecosystem built for long-term, institutional-grade growth.
The Standards Council will serve as a coordination forum for regulators, financial institutions, and market participants across Africa.
As governments move to regulate virtual assets, it will support benchmarking, information exchange, and the development of standards that improve market integrity and interoperability.
This is expected to help connect local activity to broader global markets and reduce the risk of regulatory fragmentation across the continent.
The Virtual Assets Institute, on the other hand, will address one of the sector’s most pressing challenges: the shortage of professionals who understand both the technology and the institutional environment.
Through certification programs, training, and targeted capacity building, the institute will equip financial institutions and professionals with the tools to engage confidently with virtual assets across finance, compliance, product development, and public policy.
Kenya’s regulatory environment is also taking shape, with the draft Virtual Asset Service Provider Regulations, 2026 signaling that more detailed rules are on the way.
The Chamber’s initiatives are designed to ensure the industry is ready with standards, coordination, and professional capacity in place as regulation develops.
The launch was reinforced by a recent industry dinner that brought together banks, exchanges, Virtual Asset Service Providers, payment service providers, and mobile money operators.
Frank Mwiti, CEO of the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), delivered the keynote, emphasizing the central role of trust as traditional financial market infrastructure and the virtual assets sector continue to converge.
The virtual asset industry has decisively outgrown its origins.
Wall Street’s embrace is now unmistakable, with BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust amassing over $50 billion in assets within its first year, the fastest-growing ETF launch in history.
Major banks have also rapidly expanded virtual asset custody and trading desks.
The Genious Act, advancing through the U.S. Congress, is set to unlock further liquidity by giving traditional financial institutions the regulatory clarity to issue and transact in digital dollars.
Traditional finance is no longer observing from the sidelines; it’s building the rails.
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