The government of Kazakhstan has announced changes in its crypto trading regime. Only crypto assets approved by the central bank are now allowed to be traded on Kazakhstan-based exchanges.
Moving forward, all exchanges looking to operate in the region will have to first secure approvals from the National Bank. As part of this directive, the National Bank has also been tasked with assessing and finalizing what tokens will be safe for engagement.
The development come as part of the amended banking laws that aim to ensure the national financial stability.
“Crypto-exchanges and infrastructure participants are now subject to financial monitoring,” the official statement from the government said.
Digital Financial Assets (DFAs) are being called a new asset class in Kazakhstan, a country that has emerged as a hub for crypto mining in recent years.
Stablecoins, asset-backed DFAs, and digital financial instruments have been named as three broad categories that Kazakhstan will classify crypto into.
Tokens like USDT and USDC — are are backed by money — will fall under stablecoins. While tokens such as PAX Gold and Tether Gold will fall under assets-backed stablecoins, BTC and ETH will classify under digital financial instruments that facilitate electronic money transfers.
Kazakhstan has been trying to regulate the crypto sector for a while now. Last year, it conducted a crackdown on illegal crypto operations and seized over $16 million.
The country also partnered Binance to launch its first state-backed crypto reserve in September, 2025.
The country has also launched its own stablecoin called Evo in partnership with Mastercard and Solana last year