The National Bank of Kazakhstan has announced the introduction of a new legal framework for the digital asset market, legalizing the activities of crypto exchanges and digital asset service providers. This move aims to create a transparent and secure ecosystem for investors, as well as to develop modern financial instruments within the country.
This is reported by Business • Media
Licenses for Crypto Providers and Control of Stablecoin Circulation
From now on, crypto exchanges and digital financial asset (DFA) platforms will be able to operate officially by obtaining licenses from the National Bank of Kazakhstan. The regulator will determine the list of allowed crypto assets, and for platforms operating in the Astana International Financial Centre, a separate jurisdiction will remain in place, allowing collaboration with new licensed market participants.
«We are forming a fully-fledged digital financial ecosystem with a comprehensive legal framework that will protect investors’ rights and promote the development of new financial instruments,» said Erlan Ashikbekov, Director of the Payment Systems Department of the National Bank of Kazakhstan.
A New Approach to Digital Financial Assets and Investors
The updated regulation covers the circulation of instruments such as cash-backed stablecoins, DFAs that confirm rights to financial assets, as well as digital analogs of traditional instruments — bonds, stocks, and promissory notes. Issuers and investors will be required to meet transparency, risk management, and user data protection standards. The integration of DFAs into the financial system will occur through the National Depository and the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange.
A regulatory sandbox is also planned to be created for testing cutting-edge technologies and tokenized products in a secure environment. The legislative changes are oriented towards international experience, including the standards of the Financial Action Task Force, recommendations from the International Organization of Securities Commissions, the International Monetary Fund, and practices from the EU, UAE, Singapore, Switzerland, and Hong Kong.
The functions among regulators are distributed as follows: the National Bank will be responsible for the crypto exchange market, DFA platforms, and monitoring the circulation of stablecoins, while the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market will oversee the quality standards for securing digital assets, requirements for issuers, and investor protection.
Earlier, at the beginning of this year, the government of Kazakhstan shut down over 3,500 illegal online crypto exchanges, and in April, the National Bank announced the establishment of a state operator for the exchange of crypto assets.