Stacy Pereira
- Kazakhstan’s President has called for a digital asset law to be formed by 2026, looking to formalize the crypto sector.
- The country will establish a State Fund of Digital Assets managed by the National Bank’s investment arm.
- A ‘CryptoCity’ pilot in Alatau is being planned as the region’s first fully digitalized urban zone.
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev unveiled an ambitious plan to deepen the country’s embrace of the digital economy during his annual State of the Nation address. On September 8, 2025, he directed authorities to draft a comprehensive digital asset law.
Legislation on the fast track
He asked for this legislation to be ready for adoption by 2026 and one that would oversee the ongoing blockchain and fintech activity in the country. He called for the establishment of a State Fund of Digital Assets. This would be similar to a national crypto reserve that would be managed by the National Bank’s Investment Corporation. He said that this fund would accumulate “promising digital assets” to strengthen the country’s reserves and foster financial diversification.
‘CryptoCity’ in the works
Another standout initiative is the CryptoCity pilot in Alatau, a southeast city envisioned as the region’s first fully digitalized urban zone. Here, the idea is to have everyday transactions made in cryptocurrencies, but within a regulated ecosystem. Tokayev hailed the project as a symbol of Kazakhstan’s modern future.
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These directives from the President follow the earlier initiatives, like when the National Bank floated plans to fund the crypto reserve using seized digital assets and state-run mining operations. The emphasis has consistently been on institutional oversight to manage the volatility and security risks inherent in crypto.
Earlier in August, Kazakhstan launched a regulatory sandbox to pilot digital asset innovations. Through this pilot, it looked to explore tenge-backed stablecoins and real estate tokenization. These were the stepping stones and live testbeds for the country’s future fintech developments.
