Kazakhstan’s central bank governor, Timur Suleimenov, has called on banks to target specific risks rather than block every account belonging to a licensed digital asset provider. Speaking at a government meeting in Astana on September 15, 2026, he identified excessive banking restrictions as an obstacle to developing the country’s regulated crypto market.
The National Bank of Kazakhstan wants more transactions, liquidity and capital to remain within the country. Its proposals include consistent financial monitoring rules, competitive tax treatment and greater use of digital instruments to finance businesses and infrastructure.
One risky transaction should not freeze an entire business
Suleimenov criticized what he described as banking “overcompliance”—an excessively restrictive approach to screening customers and transactions. Blocking all of a provider’s accounts can also disrupt customers whose activities have raised no concerns.
“Risk associated with an individual customer or transaction should not lead to the blocking of all accounts belonging to a licensed provider. Restrictions should be targeted,” said Timur Suleimenov, Governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan.
To help banks assess risks more precisely, the central bank proposes giving them access to tools developed by the National Crypto Analytics Center. The Financial Monitoring Agency and the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market would work with the National Bank to establish clear, consistent rules for risk-based financial monitoring.
The analytics center is being developed on a supervisory technology, or SupTech, platform. It will examine both the fiat and cryptocurrency components of transactions, alongside customer, wallet and transaction data.
It will also connect to the National Bank’s Anti-Fraud Center. Banks, law enforcement agencies and licensed providers will receive access to its screening tools.
Three licensed exchange operators report $2 billion tenge turnover
According to Suleimenov, Kazakhstan has three licensed operators exchanging unbacked digital assets, the regulatory category covering cryptocurrencies. Their combined turnover reached approximately 2 billion tenge during their first two months. Another five companies are undergoing licensing.
The National Bank has granted the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, KASE, authorization to operate both a digital financial asset platform and a digital asset trading platform.
On KASE’s digital platform, an ETF linked to bitcoin futures recorded 34,000 transactions worth 20.5 billion tenge. New ETFs linked to three cryptoassets recorded 650 transactions worth 1 billion tenge. ETFs are exchange-traded funds that give investors exposure to particular assets or investment strategies.
Kazakhstan’s Central Securities Depository maintains a unified register of holders and is developing national custody infrastructure. Non-bank payment providers are also joining crypto-to-fiat services. Suleimenov said crypto cards, crypto QR payments and crypto merchant-acquiring services are already available.
Nationwide regulation took effect on May 1
Kazakhstan began building its regulated market in 2022, when a framework connecting crypto exchanges within the Astana International Financial Centre, or AIFC, with banks became operational. This established an initial regulated channel between cryptocurrencies and conventional money.
The country adopted its Law on Digital Assets in 2023. By the end of 2025, AIFC providers had processed $10.6 billion in transactions and served approximately 215,000 customers. That framework, however, applied within the AIFC rather than across the entire domestic market.
In July 2025, the National Bank established a regulatory sandbox to test new products and business models. It currently hosts 34 projects across 14 areas, including stablecoins, tokenization, crypto exchanges, custody and crypto-to-fiat services.
Reforms introduced through new banking legislation in 2026 established requirements for issuing and holding digital financial assets and recording owners’ rights. These assets include stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets and financial instruments. The reforms also defined the legal framework for trading unbacked digital assets.
Provider categories now include tokenization platform operators, crypto exchanges and cryptocurrency exchange services. According to the National Bank, the nationwide framework that took effect on May 1, 2026, is the first comprehensive model of its kind in Central Asia.
Tax measures target transactions through Kazakh providers
The next phase of development follows Presidential Decree No. 1347 of July 7, 2026. Its objectives include moving transactions into Kazakhstan’s regulated market, expanding tokenization, introducing new settlement instruments, protecting investors and combating illegal transactions and capital outflows.
Among the implementation measures Suleimenov outlined is a special tax regime, including exemption from personal income tax for individuals’ income from transactions through Kazakh providers in 2026–2028.
He presented this as a measure to implement the decree. The proposed relief concerns transactions through local providers and should not be read as a blanket exemption for all cryptocurrency trading.
The National Bank also wants a consistent tax approach across traditional finance and digital assets. It sees competitive treatment as necessary to bring transactions and capital into the regulated market and attract international participants.
Stablecoins are planned for payments and cross-border transfers
Licensed providers’ functions are set to expand. The planned model includes companies offering issuance, sale, exchange, custody and settlement services, with banks, brokers and other financial institutions participating more broadly.
Stablecoins issued in Kazakhstan are intended for purchases of goods and services, import-export transactions and cross-border transfers. The National Bank expects these instruments to accelerate settlement and reduce business costs.
Another workstream involves decentralized finance, or DeFi. Authorities plan to study its business models and assess how their speed and smart-contract mechanisms could support programmable financial services.
For digital mining, the proposal is to use otherwise unused, stand-alone and renewable energy sources without adding pressure to the main electricity system.
A Committee for Digital Assets and Payment Systems is also planned within the National Bank. It would bring together policy development, licensing, supervision, analysis and support for innovative projects.
Alatau City prepares two tokenization projects
A Tokenization by Default concept is being developed for Alatau City. Digital instruments would help finance urban infrastructure and investment projects.
The plans include launching tokenization of the Iconic Tower complex for up to $50 million by the end of 2026. A second project concerns the Birlik logistics center, worth up to $10 million. Both are intended to use KASE’s infrastructure.
Tokenization records rights associated with an asset or financial instrument in digital form. For project developers, it offers an additional way to raise capital. Investors’ rights and participation terms depend on the structure of each issuance.
Suleimenov argued that meaningful economic results require a sufficient supply of quality assets and large offerings. The proposed pool includes government securities, public debt instruments, corporate bonds, property, infrastructure projects and mineral deposits.
He called on the Ministry of Finance, sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna, national holding company Baiterek, KASE and the Central Securities Depository to prepare the first major offerings.
“Only then will tokenization become a new channel for raising capital,” Suleimenov said.
Binance regional settlement hub is under consideration
Authorities are working on a regional financial and settlement hub for Binance. The project envisages establishing a Kazakh legal entity and obtaining a category-one payment organization license.
The hub could serve customers across the Commonwealth of Independent States, Eastern Europe and Asia. Suleimenov described it as a project drawing on the nationwide regulatory framework, the AIFC and Alatau City.
The National Bank wants to accelerate a general agreement between itself, the financial market regulator, the AIFC and Alatau City. The agreement would cover joint projects, information sharing, mutual recognition of digital assets and providers, and coordinated supervision.
The central bank wants transactions and capital to stay onshore
Suleimenov cited a global digital asset market with approximately 750 million users and $2.3 trillion in capitalization. He put stablecoin turnover in 2025 at $50 trillion, while the tokenized asset market had grown twelvefold over three years.
He identified three international trends: a shift toward licensing and supervision, closer integration with banks and payment infrastructure, and practical use in cross-border settlement, custody and tokenization.
The National Bank and other government bodies have prepared a joint action plan with specific measures, responsible institutions and deadlines. The regulator expects it to increase the size and liquidity of Kazakhstan’s regulated market, attract international participants and expand financing for the real economy.
Delivering those results, Suleimenov said, requires competitive taxation, targeted banking restrictions, substantial digital asset offerings and coordination between regulators.
Our earlier report examines Halyk Finance’s entry into KASE’s digital financial asset infrastructure and what that status means for future investment products (in Russian).
