Key Takeaways:
- The pilot project seek to build cooperation between the crypto exchanges and the local banks in the country.
- The project is aimed at crypto exchanges in the special economic zone of Astana International Finance Centre.
- In May, Binance has signed an MoU with the Ministry of Digital Development Kazakhstan to develop a virtual asset market in the country.
Kazakhstan will soon launch a pilot project that would let crypto exchanges start bank accounts, announced the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry of Kazakhstan Republic. The project seeks to build cooperation between the virtual asset exchanges and the local banks in the country.
The pilot project would function until 2022 end and will include the exchanges that have gained a license from the freshly-formed Astana Financial Service Authority (AFSA). Under the project, a blueprint for the subsequent development of Kazakhstan as a regional crypto hub would be made. Close guidelines should soon be published on the AIFC webpage.
Head of AFSA Nurhat Kushimov, commenting on the recent development, stated that the mission of the committee is to create an environment for reliable and sustainable companies to operate. The Ministry of Digital Development, the National Bank, the Financial Monitoring Agency, the Association of Financiers, Astana International Finance Centre, and the finance and crypto market stakeholders are all part of the working committee that formulated guidelines for the project.
Bagdat Musin, the minister of digital development, states that it’sโ necessary to create a complete ecosystem for digital assets that have been mined using Kazakhstanโs electric energy so that it could be traded at the local exchanges to the maximum extent and the profit would stay in the country.
The pilot project launch comes as the Kazakhstan parliament passed an order imposing a crypto mining tax tied to the electricity prices consumed by mining entities. Since last yearโs crackdown on the industry in China, Kazakhstan has witnessed an uptick in crypto mining, causing problems for citizens with respect to electricity shortages and blackouts. Over 100 crypto farms in Kazakhstan have terminated operations as a result of ongoing inspections of the mining sector.
The Central Asian country grabbed news headlines recently when leading crypto exchange Binance signed a memorandum of understanding(MoU) with the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan to develop the virtual asset sector in the country.