The exchange platforms will have the opportunity to operate legally in the Astana international finance center in 2022.
In addition to rapid progress toward crypto mining control, Kazakhstan will launch a pilot project for crypto exchanges in the special economic zone of the Astana International Finance Center.
The Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Thursday announced a pilot project of cooperation between the crypto exchange and some local banks.
The working group has developed guidelines for that collaboration, including representatives from the Ministry of Digital Development, the National Bank, the Financial Monitoring Agency, the Association of Financiers, Astana International Finance Centre and the finance and crypto market stakeholders.
The pilot project will be operational by the end of 2022 and will include the newly formed exchanges that have gained a license from the freshly-formed Astana Financial Service Authority (AFSA). It will create a blueprint for the subsequent development of Kazakhstan as a regional crypto hub. Close guidelines should soon be published on the AIFC webpage.
Head of AFSA Nurhat Kushimov declared that the mission of his committee is to create an environment for reliable and sustainable companies to operate:
“The Astana Financial Service Authority is the only entity responsible for regulating the fintech companies’ activities in Kazakhstan. Before handing out the license to a fintech company, we conduct a deep and thorough background check, and after that maintain its constant supervision.”
Bagdat Musin, the minister of digital development, voiced Kazakhstan’s aim to profit off crypto exchanges:
“It is necessary to create a complete ecosystem, so the digital assets that have been mined using Kazakhstan’s electric energy would be traded at the local exchanges to the maximum extent, and the profit would stay in the country”.
On May 25, the Kazakh parliament passed amendments to the National Tax Code in the first instance to impose a crypto mining tax on the price of electricity used by mining entities.
On the same day, the largest crypto exchange Binance signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Digital Development and expressed its intention to advise on developing legal framework and regulatory policy for crypto-assets in the Republic.
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