The National Bank will present amendments to the legislation on digital assets in August 2025, said Berik Sholpankulov, Deputy Chairman of the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK), as reported by a correspondent from the business information center Kapital.kz.
“We have already met with market participants and formed our initial vision. We are now awaiting proposals to test them within the regulatory sandbox. After that, we will incorporate enforcement norms into the law. We plan to present the draft law in August 2025,” said Berik Sholpankulov following a plenary session in the Senate.
The National Bank does not have precise data on the size of the cryptocurrency market in the country but has studied the situation in neighboring states.
“Turnover ranges from half a million to several billion dollars. We understand that there is a gray cryptocurrency market in Kazakhstan, where people purchase bitcoins and other digital assets through shell websites,” added Berik Sholpankulov.
At an extended government meeting, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed to change the approaches to the circulation of digital assets. Currently, in Kazakhstan, such assets can only be legally traded on the basis of cryptocurrency exchanges of the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC). “At the same time, according to experts, only 5% of Kazakhstani crypto investors use the center's platform, while the rest operate in what is known as the 'gray zone.' It is urgently necessary to create infrastructure for a broader legal circulation of digital assets. Financial regulators must work on forming an appropriate legislative framework,” the president stated.
He also informed about the pilot use of the digital tenge in road construction, farmer financing, and subsidies for the purchase of agricultural machinery. Additionally, a project has been launched to trace the funds allocated from the National Fund within the framework of bond loans. These projects are being implemented 100% in digital tenge.