Kazakhstan plans major reforms to position itself as Central Asia’s leading crypto hub, according to the country’s digital development minister.
According to Kazakhstan’s digital minister, the country might become the leading blockchain hub in Central Asia if crypto prohibitions are lifted and laws are expanded.
Kanysh Tuleushin, Kazakhstan’s first vice minister of digital development, innovation, and aerospace industry, believes that if regulatory barriers are loosened, the country might emerge as a major crypto hub in Central Asia.
Tuleushin claimed that digital mining and astute policy changes might establish Kazakhstan as a regional leader in blockchain innovation in a recent opinion piece for the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper.
“The impact could be significant if all restrictions were lifted and trading in digital assets was permitted throughout Kazakhstan,” he wrote.
Tuleushin said, “Kazakhstan might become Central Asia’s crypto hub,” implying that further legalization and taxation could contribute hundreds of billions of tenge to the national coffers.
He demanded authorized cryptocurrency ATMs, open exchanges, and national crypto regulations.
Cryptocurrency miners could modernize Kazakhstan.
According to Tuleushin, cryptocurrency mining companies could be crucial to updating the country’s energy system. He pointed out that miners in the country may contribute to the power grid balance by using excess energy, much like in the US.
Thermal power upgrades are financed by foreign investors under the 70/30 energy strategy, with miners receiving 30% of the generated capacity and the national grid receiving 70%.
He also suggested using associated petroleum gas from oil fields to power data centers to lower emissions and make money for oil companies.
Over the previous three years, the country’s cryptocurrency mining industry has already paid $34.6 million in taxes. According to Tuleushin, as of 2023, the government had accredited five mining pools, awarded 84 permits, and registered 415,000 mining devices.
From $324 million in 2023 to $1.4 billion in 2024, cryptocurrency trading on the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) market increased dramatically. Miners will have to sell 75% of their mined assets through AIFC platforms starting in 2025.
Kazakhstan faces challenges from unregulated cryptocurrency transactions.
Despite advancements, most cryptocurrency transactions outside the AIFC are still unregulated; of the $4.1 billion in 2023 turnover, 91.5% occurred outside official control.
In 2024, authorities disrupted two Ponzi schemes, froze $4.8 million in assets, and shut down 36 illicit exchanges.
Additionally, the nation is developing the digital tenge, an internal central bank digital currency (CBDC). Development began in February 2023, with the first launch scheduled for 2025.
Other Central Asian nations, such as Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, have also adopted a welcoming stance toward the digital asset sector, as has Kazakhstan.
To bring blockchain education and cryptocurrency payment infrastructure to Kyrgyzstan, Binance and the National Agency for Investments inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on May 7.
