Buying Bitcoin in Kenya
South African, Nigeria and Kenya are all getting into bitcoin now that a store of value is available that can’t be faked, like paper currencies have been for years. Even with new shillings being issued, the value of the shilling has gone down since 2010 and shows no signs of recovering. Buying bitcoin with shillings is going to continue to grow in Kenya, along with cryptocurrency, blockchain and other non-valuable crypto buzz words. The smart shillings are on the decentralized store of value that bitcoin offers Kenyans, which is something that the Kenya Shilling could never quite do.
Best Bitcoin Exchanges in Kenya
The South African, Nigerian and Kenyan bitcoin exchanges that are most trusted in the country have their boots on the ground. Either through being one of the first bitcoin exchanges in Africa or one of the European or Asia bitcoin exchanges expanding into the country.
Most people who invest in bitcoin are aware of how difficult banking in Africa has been, with M-Pesa being founded in Kenya but not adapted outside of the country. The options to buy bitcoin with M-pesa continue to increase in Kenya and in other African countries to eventually have everyone on a decentralized cryptocurrency worldwide.
Currently the best bitcoin exchanges in Kenya are:
| Kenya Bitcoin Exchanges | Type | KYC | Currencies | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Paxful | Anonymous Bitcoin Purchases | No | Western Union, MoneyGram, Visa Prepaid Cards, Amazon Gift Cards | Continue |
 | LakeBTC | Exchange / Trading Platform | Yes | All National Currencies, BTC, ETH, LTC | Continue |
 | CEX.IO | Exchange / Trading Platform | Yes | USD, EUR, GBP, VND, BTC, ETH, LTC + more | Continue |
 | Remitano | Peer to Peer | Yes | KES, ZAR, VND, IDR, USD, EUR, GBP | Continue |
 | Bitit | Exchange / Trading Platform | Yes | HKD, CNY, JPY, EUR, GBP, USD, ZAR, SGD, BTC, ETH, LTC | Continue |
 | LocalBitcoins | Peer to Peer Bitcoin Buying and Selling | Yes | KES, M-Pesa, EQUITY, ZAR, NGN, USD, BTC, LTC, ETH | Continue |
 | BitMEX | Trading Platform | No | BTC | Continue |
Buying Bitcoin Anonymously in Kenya
Buying bitcoin anonymously isn’t easily done person to person, with the arrest of the local bitcoin money launderers, the P2P trading market in Kenya is a little rough. You can still trade shillings through the few exchanges allowing bank transfers, credit cards and even gift cards for buying bitcoin anonymously. The amounts allowed may be limited with some options below but there will be no identification requirements.
The best anonymous exchanges for Kenyan’s to buy bitcoin and cryptocurrencies currently are:
| Anonymous Exchanges | Kenya | Type | KYC | Currencies | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | HodlHodl | Peer to Peer BTC Exchange / Trading Platform | No | EUR, USD | |
| Paxful | Anonymous Bitcoin Purchases | No | Western Union, MoneyGram, Visa Prepaid Cards, Amazon Gift Cards | |
 | BISQ | Anonymous Person to Person Exchange / Trading Platform | No | AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP, INR, JPY, NZD, RUB, SEK, ZAR (More) | |
 | Binance | Trading Platform | No (under 2BTC) | BTC, ETH, LTC, Hundreds of Alt-coins | |
 | CoinMama | Exchange | Under $150 No | Visa, MasterCard, AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP, INR, JPY, NZD, RUB, SEK, ZAR |