The fintech startup’s departure highlights the rising compliance costs facing blockchain-based payment services as Kenya pushes to leave the FATF grey list and steps up oversight of virtual asset providers.
Hurupay is leaving Kenya as regulators intensify anti-money laundering checks, compliance audits and broader oversight of digital asset platforms, increasing pressure on services that handle stablecoins such as USDC. The move comes as Kenya works to secure removal from the FATF grey list, after the Financial Action Task Force (global financial crime watchdog) placed the country on increased monitoring in 2024 over deficiencies in systems for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. Kenya has since introduced corrective steps, including a legal framework to license and supervise virtual asset service providers. Hurupay, founded by Philip Mburu, Maxwel Ochieng, Allan Okoth and James Mugambi, was built to help African freelancers, remote workers and small businesses protect earnings from local currency weakness by using blockchain networks including Stellar and Celo and settling cross-border payments in U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins like USDC. Analysts say tighter know-your-customer requirements, transaction monitoring and anti-money laundering audits are raising costs for early-stage fintechs. Representatives for Hurupay were not immediately available for comment on the timeline of the wind-down or asset migration plans for its Kenyan users.