The crypto exchanges have received the consent of the AFSA regulator to be the first fully licensed Digital Asset Trading Facilities in Kazakhstan.
Cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Bybit made inroads into the Kazakhstan market when they became the first firms to receive formal consent from the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) for full Digital Asset Trading Facility (DATF) licensing.
The AFSA is the regulatory authority for Kazakhstan’s Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) special economic zone. A full license will permit the exchanges to provide investment services, advanced trading and custody. The exchanges have yet to receive the actual licenses.
Both exchanges have been operating in Kazakhstan with “in-principle” authorization. Binance has had a presence in Kazakhstan since August 2022, when it received in-principle authorization to operate in the AIFC. It received a permanent license in October 2022, but the AFSA decided to restructure the DATF framework in January 2023, however.
