Kazakhstan Makes Crypto Legal, Approves Digital Asset Trading

• The National Bank of Kazakhstan now has the authority to license crypto exchanges and approve specific crypto for trading.
• The country recently updated its banking laws to officially recognise crypto as actual money, alongside regular banking products.
• These changes were put in place to remove the massive grey area in the market, where 90% of local crypto trading happened with official oversight.

Kazakhstan has reached a major turning point in its financial history. According to reports, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a series of laws that change how crypto works in the country. 

This move has brought the market under the umbrella of the National Bank, and under the new framework, the government wants to move away from the lack of rules of the past.

Central Bank Oversight Under Kazakhstan Crypto Regulation

The National Bank now serves as the main guardian of the crypto space. It has the power to issue licenses to exchanges that want to operate within its borders. Without this license, a platform cannot provide services to citizens. 

The oversight ensures that every active exchange meets the security and honesty cutoffs.

🇰🇿🚨 KAZAKHSTAN HANDS CRYPTO CONTROL TO CENTRAL BANK

Kazakhstan’s President approved new laws to regulate crypto like $BTC under central bank control.

This will let its National Bank oversee the crypto market and approve which crypto can only be legally traded. pic.twitter.com/DXbSrTZRds

— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) January 19, 2026

Furthermore, the Kazakhstani change allows the bank to curate a list of approved cryptocurrencies. This means that assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum must meet specific criteria before they can be traded. 

The goal is to prevent scams and risky tokens from harming small investors. By doing so, the Kazakhstani government is attempting to control the menu to make trading more stable.

Merging Digital Assets into Banking Law

Lawmakers also updated the existing banking laws. The Law on Banks and Banking Activities now includes a category for crypto, which covers stablecoins tied to fiat currencies and tokenised versions of real-world assets. 

It basically treats these tools as legitimate financial instruments.

This update brings the crypto space into the mainstream, as licensed banks can now handle and even issue digital assets. 

In other words, people might soon be able to buy crypto products at their banks, instead of needing niche websites. 

Why the Government Chose Strict Control

Most crypto trading in the country used to happen in shadows, and reports even show that about 90% of activity took place outside official channels. This made it impossible for the state to protect consumers or stop illegal money movements.

However, bringing these activities under the law means that the government can finally enforce tax rules and safety standards.

The new regulations also focus heavily on anti-money laundering efforts. The Financial Monitoring Agency is working to match global standards, and this includes the “travel rule,” which requires companies to share customer data during transfers. 

A national registry will also track wallets linked to criminal activity, and these steps make the market less attractive to bad actors