Kazakhstan Launches Consultation on Proposals to Improve Crypto Trading

Financial authorities in Kazakhstan are starting a public consultation on draft changes to the country’s framework for digital-asset trading. The proposals include measures to reduce risks in the crypto market and improvements to the structure of exchange platforms.

Kazakhstan’s Financial Hub Seeks to Amend Its Concept for Trading Digital Assets

The Astana Financial Services Authority, the body that oversees the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC), has published a consultation paper detailing proposals aimed at upgrading Kazakhstan’s regulated ecosystem for cryptocurrency operations.

The document suggests measures to reduce market risks in the government-controlled trading environment. The regulatory body has also prepared solutions to improve the current structure of the crypto platforms working out of the Central Asian nation’s financial hub.

Residents of the AIFC, as well as other interested parties, have been invited to participate in the consultation, the crypto news outlet Forklog reported, quoting the announcement. The managing authority will accept public feedback until Feb. 25.

The approved proposals will be added to the draft amendments to the AIFC Digital Assets Trading Concept expected to be released later this year. Among them are mechanisms to prevent market abuse, limit settlement risks and disclose information to investors.

The initiative comes after the parliament in Nur-Sultan adopted a bill devoted to regulating the country’s crypto space. Along with other legal acts, the law “On Digital Assets in the Republic of Kazakhstan” introduces rules for the mining and circulation of cryptocurrencies.

The legislation also envisages the establishment of a licensing regime for crypto miners and exchanges to replace the existing registration system. Kazakhstan became a mining hotspot following China’s crackdown on the industry and has been looking to regulate the sector and the sale of minted coins.

The influx of miners was blamed for the country’s growing power deficit and authorities have been cracking down on unauthorized crypto farms. They have also taken down a number of illegal crypto trading platforms as only exchanges registered at the AIFC are allowed to provide such services.

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Do you think Kazakhstan takes steps to expand its legal framework for digital assets in order to become a regional crypto hub? Tell us in the comments section below.

Lubomir Tassev

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Eastern Europe who likes Hitchens’s quote: “Being a writer is what I am, rather than what I do.” Besides crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.