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Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has named 15 entities it says are offering investment services without the required licences or approvals, placing Kenya crypto regulation and investor protection under renewed scrutiny as the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) investigates the firms alongside the regulator and other law-enforcement agencies.
The CMA’s warning, issued in September 2026, identifies a group of investment platforms and companies that allegedly solicited funds from members of the public without the necessary authorisation. The list includes several firms associated with cryptocurrency and digital assets, including QVSE, Kore Exchange, Bitblock Capital, CBEX, Ultima Cryptocurrency and Wealth Sharing Group, which trades as Opticoin.
Other entities named by the regulator are Global Investment Group, Abacus Wealth Management, Brown Advisory Group, B Invest, Maliwave Investments, Monetrix Capital Investments, Twenty-four Hours Pro Expert Trader, Just Markets and Lukman-trust fund.
The regulator did not disclose the specific allegations against each entity or provide details on how much money investors may have lost.
The latest intervention highlights the widening challenge facing Kenya crypto regulation, particularly as investment platforms can reach Kenyan consumers through websites, mobile applications and social-media channels without necessarily holding local authorisation.
The CMA said the listed entities were operating without the requisite licences or approvals and were unlawfully soliciting funds from the public.
“The following entities are operating unlawfully and fraudulently soliciting funds from the public,” — Capital Markets Authority of Kenya.
The regulator said the 15 entities are now subject to active investigations by the DCI, working in coordination with the CMA and other law-enforcement agencies.
The move places cryptocurrency-linked investment schemes within a broader financial-crime investigation rather than treating the issue solely as a question of whether a company has obtained a capital-markets licence.
That distinction is important for Kenya crypto regulation, where digital-asset businesses increasingly operate alongside traditional investment products such as forex, wealth-management schemes and other online financial services.
The CMA urged investors who may have been affected to report their cases to the DCI.
The concentration of crypto-related names on the warning is significant for Kenya crypto regulation because digital assets have increasingly become part of the country’s wider financial ecosystem.
QVSE, Kore Exchange, Bitblock Capital, CBEX, Ultima Cryptocurrency and Opticoin are among the entities identified by the CMA. Their inclusion does not, by itself, establish the outcome of the ongoing investigations, but it demonstrates the regulator’s concern about platforms seeking money from Kenyan investors without the approvals it says are required.
The CMA’s announcement also comes after growing attention to the activities of online investment platforms operating across African markets.
QVSE, in particular, had already attracted scrutiny in Kenya. The platform was raised in Parliament in August amid questions about its regulatory status and investment practices.
The parliamentary attention illustrates why Kenya crypto regulation has become increasingly connected to questions of investor protection, transparency and enforcement.
The National Assembly inquiry sought clarification over whether QVSE and Global Investment Group were legally authorised to operate in Kenya, as well as questions about their ownership, local operations and whether authorities had investigated allegations surrounding the investment model.
Those developments preceded the CMA’s latest public warning.
The involvement of the DCI gives the latest action a broader significance for Kenya crypto regulation.
Regulatory authorities can typically address unlicensed financial activity through warnings, enforcement notices and licensing measures. The participation of criminal investigators, however, signals that authorities are examining whether the activities associated with the listed entities may extend beyond regulatory breaches.
The CMA said investors should verify the licensing status of investment providers before committing funds. It also warned the public against entities that present fraudulent activities as legitimate investment opportunities.
It also highlights a central challenge for Kenya crypto regulation: digital platforms can reach consumers across borders and through online channels, while enforcement agencies must establish which activities fall under domestic regulatory requirements.
The issue is particularly relevant for firms marketing cryptocurrency, forex or other digital investment products to Kenyan users. A platform may be accessible to consumers without necessarily having the approvals required to solicit investment funds locally.
The 15-entity warning gives Kenya crypto regulation a more immediate investor-protection dimension.
The CMA has not publicly detailed the potential losses associated with each company, nor has it stated the eventual findings of the investigations. As a result, the regulator’s allegations should not be treated as final determinations of criminal or civil liability.
For affected investors, however, the authority’s advice is clear: cases should be reported to the DCI, while prospective investors should establish whether an investment provider has the necessary licence or approval before sending funds.
The development also shows how Kenya crypto regulation is moving beyond questions about whether cryptocurrencies themselves should be permitted or restricted. Increasingly, regulators are examining the businesses and investment schemes built around digital assets, particularly where companies solicit funds from the public.
The CMA’s latest warning therefore places Kenya crypto regulation at the intersection of financial licensing, digital-asset oversight and financial-crime enforcement.
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