NAIROBI, Kenya — The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has officially unveiled a pioneering Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Investigation Training Module — a move heralded as a major leap in Kenya’s fight against sophisticated digital and financial crimes.
At the launch ceremony on Monday, the opening was presided over by Rosemary Kuraru, Director of the National Forensic Laboratory, who represented the DCI director.
Kuraru emphasized the urgent need for law-enforcement agencies to stay ahead of criminal syndicates that exploit digital platforms and decentralised financial systems for money laundering, fraud, terrorism financing, and cyber-enabled offences.
The training programme — fully funded and technically supported by the European Union (EU) — will equip DCI officers and key stakeholders with specialised skills in tracing blockchain transactions, analysing crypto-wallets, detecting illicit flows in the crypto ecosystem, and applying international digital-forensics best practices.
Officials say the initiative is prompted by the growing complexity and scale of digital crimes in Kenya and the broader East African region. Criminal networks have increasingly migrated to virtual currencies and blockchain-based systems to shield illicit proceeds from conventional financial scrutiny.
The new training module builds on an ongoing transformation within DCI’s capacity-building framework, which has seen the acquisition of modern digital forensics gear earlier this year — a development that significantly boosts the agency’s readiness to handle cybercrime.
According to the DCI, the module will facilitate cross-border cooperation in digital investigations, close technical gaps, and strengthen Kenya’s position as a regional leader in modern policing and cybersecurity.
What the Training Covers — And Why It Matters
- Tracing and mapping of blockchain and cryptocurrency transactions.
- Analysis of virtual asset ecosystems, including wallets, exchanges, and decentralised finance platforms.
- Application of digital forensics and international protocols on crypto-related financial crimes, including money laundering and terrorist financing.
- Cross-agency and cross-jurisdiction collaboration to tackle transnational cybercrimes.
The timing of the launch is significant. In 2025 alone, the DCI reported several high-profile cryptocurrency-related fraud cases, including the arrest of two individuals accused of defrauding a Chinese national of Sh 6.5 million.
The new training initiative aims to empower investigators to preempt such crimes more effectively and dismantle crypto-based fraud networks before they proliferate.
This training comes as global criminal trends increasingly shift toward digital spaces — where anonymity, rapid cross-border transfers, and decentralised platforms make detection and prosecution more challenging.
