28 July 2026 – Tether, the largest company in the digital asset industry, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) to explore digital asset education, tokenization, and financial market innovation in Nairobi.
The NSE, established in 1954, is one of the leading African exchanges, based in Kenya, that offers trading facilities to people seeking exposure to Kenya’s and Africa’s economic growth. With a market cap of approximately $26.4 billion, NSE plays a vital role in Kenya’s economic growth by encouraging savings and investment and helping local and international companies access cost-effective capital. NSE is a member of the Association of Futures Markets and is a partner exchange in the United Nations-led SSE initiative. The NSE provides a world-class platform for trading equities, debt securities, and derivatives for people in Nairobi and the diaspora.
Tether and NSE aim to close the gap between where Kenyan investors are today and where they need to be by proposing an investor education program through training sessions, workshops, and other accessible, structured knowledge-transfer initiatives on capital markets in the digital age, targeting participants from NSE-listed brokers and retail investor groups, to build awareness and participation in capital markets through digital assets.
This MoU also aims to support the development and implementation of a blockchain-based market infrastructure for the tokenization and instant settlement of securities within the NSE using Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and enable fractionalized access to securities for both local and diaspora investors via the Hadron platform. Tether and NSE will also design and pilot secured onboarding flows tailored to the Kenyan regulatory environment to streamline Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) processes.
Another key area of focus is the potential development of Real World Asset (RWA) Tokenization, which will explore the Hadron platform’s features and functionality to enable the issuance and trading of tokenized securities and other financial instruments. To promote financial freedom and optimize the institution’s financial workflow, Tether aims to support the integration of instant and atomic settlement mechanisms to reduce the institution’s current three-level settlement cycle. Additionally, both parties will assess the viability of integrating USD₮ as a potential digital settlement infrastructure layer to enhance liquidity and attract increased capital flow where permitted by.
“The use cases for digital assets are evolving, from crypto into real-life applications and, ultimately, cross-border institutional finance. This is what true freedom means. We’re glad to deepen our collaboration with the Nairobi Securities Exchange to advance practical institutional adoption and technological progress. Our goal is to streamline operations and enable efficient, transparent, accountable, and sustainable processes, while protecting data and privacy,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether.
“This MoU is fully aligned with the NSE’s 2025–2029 Strategic Plan, which is anchored on leveraging technology, deepening market participation, and expanding access to investment opportunities for all investors. By collaborating with Tether, we are exploring innovative technologies that have the potential to modernize market infrastructure, enhance operational efficiency, and broaden investor access while maintaining the highest standards of market integrity and regulatory compliance. As we execute our strategy, partnerships such as this will play a critical role in positioning the NSE as a globally competitive exchange and a catalyst for Kenya’s economic growth,” said Frank Mwiti, Chief Executive Officer, NSE.
