Kazakhstan — crypto regulation

Status: legal · Last reviewed 2026-11-05

Kazakhstan regulates crypto under the 2023 Law on Digital Assets (No. 193-VII), which licenses mining and originally confined crypto trading to the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC). January 2026 amendments (Law No. 259-VIII) ended the AIFC monopoly: since 1 May 2026 the National Bank licenses exchanges for unsecured digital assets (crypto) and registers trading and DFA platforms, while stablecoins and tokenised assets are treated as digital financial assets. Crypto is not recognised as a means of payment. The first national exchange licence went to Pax Finance in July 2026, a July 2026 presidential decree set a roadmap including stablecoin trade settlement and tax incentives, and the government says its national crypto reserve reached $700m by Sep 2026 (no direct bitcoin purchases yet).

Legislation