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Kazakhstan Restricts Crypto Trading to Central Bank-Approved Coins Only

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Kazakhstan’s Head of State, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, has enacted laws regarding Banks and Banking Activities within the Republic of Kazakhstan, establishing a complete regulatory framework for digital belongings.

The regulation grants the nation’s central financial institution authority to decide which cryptocurrencies could also be traded on regulated exchanges.

The laws, detailed in a current official document, encompasses over 5 distinct amendments and additions to varied legislative acts addressing monetary market regulation, communications, and chapter procedures.

The regulation additionally introduces complete regulatory frameworks for digital monetary belongings, whereas tightening controls on “unsecured” cryptocurrencies, akin to Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Kazakhstan Introduces a Three-Tier Digital Asset Framework

A big growth is the authorization and regulatory introduction of digital monetary belongings as a brand new asset class in Kazakhstan.

The new regulatory construction categorizes digital monetary belongings into three distinct sorts, every topic to totally different oversight mechanisms.

Kazakhstan Crypto Trading - Government Announcement Translated to Russian
Translated from Russian. | Source Gov.kz

Stablecoins backed by fiat foreign money will fall beneath the National Bank’s necessities governing their issuance, circulation, and redemption.

Digital monetary belongings backed by monetary devices, property rights, items, or different tangible belongings signify the second class, whereas monetary devices issued electronically on digital platforms comprise the third tier.

Digital platform operators will operate as newly licensed monetary market entities licensed to problem these belongings, topic to conventional monetary instrument necessities, together with danger administration protocols and investor safety requirements.

Additionally, the regulation addresses one other digital asset class, “unsecured digital belongings,” referring to cryptocurrencies akin to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).

The laws offers for the institution of cryptocurrency change organizations, which will probably be licensed and supervised by the National Bank.

To safeguard buyers, the National Bank will set up an inventory of accepted cryptocurrencies for circulation, together with operational limits and restrictions on crypto exchanges.

For anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing functions, crypto exchanges and digital asset market infrastructure individuals are labeled amongst entities topic to monetary monitoring.

Aggressive Enforcement Against Illegal Operations

Kazakhstan’s regulatory push follows months of intensive enforcement motion towards unauthorized crypto exercise.

Authorities shut down 130 illegal crypto exchanges in October 2024, seizing digital belongings price $16.7 million suspected of laundering prison proceeds.

Only platforms licensed by the Astana Financial Services Authority and built-in with native banks can legally function beneath the Law on Digital Assets.

The crackdown prolonged past exchanges to 81 shadow cash-out teams found with a mixed turnover reaching 24 billion KZT ($43 million) in 2024.

Deputy Chairman of the Financial Monitoring Agency, Kairat Bizhanov, recognized ATMs as a important vulnerability, noting that money withdrawals totaled 13.2 trillion KZT ($24.1 billion), 1 trillion greater than the earlier 12 months.

Anonymous transactions utilizing nominee-owned financial institution playing cards allow criminals, together with cyber fraudsters and drug traffickers, to function with out sender or recipient identification.

Throughout 2023 and 2024, the Financial Monitoring Agency blocked over 3,500 illegal online crypto exchanges in coordination with the National Security Committee and the Ministry of Culture and Information.

In 2024 alone, regulators closed 36 unlawful exchangers dealing with a complete of 60 billion tenge ($112 million) in turnover, whereas Kazakhstan formally blocked Coinbase’s web site for violating digital asset rules.

Kazakhstan Greenlights Crypto Banks and National Reserve Fund

Despite strict enforcement measures, Kazakhstan is concurrently exploring progressive digital asset initiatives.

Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov announced plans to launch crypto banks as a part of a broader technique to construct a sustainable, regulated ecosystem.

These establishments would provide digital asset change companies, safe storage options, and transaction processing by means of infrastructure suppliers,s together with digital asset platforms, custodians, brokers, and sellers.

Kazakhstan additionally intends to establish a national cryptocurrency reserve fund valued between $500 million and $1 billion by early 2026, in accordance to Bloomberg reporting.

The initiative represents one among Central Asia’s most formidable strikes to combine digital belongings into state-managed funding portfolios, although authorities have indicated the fund will keep away from direct publicity to risky cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and undertake a cautious funding strategy.

The publish Kazakhstan Restricts Crypto Trading to Central Bank-Approved Coins Only appeared first on Cryptonews.

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