Cryptocurrency in Kazakhstan: regulation, taxes and licensing
In short. Kazakhstan runs two crypto regimes at once. Inside the Astana financial centre a separate regulator has licensed exchanges since 2021, and outside it the National Bank took charge on 1 May 2026 under a new digital assets law. Individuals pay 10% on the gain from a sale, a rule the tax code spelled out for the first time in January 2026. Paying with crypto stays prohibited.
- TAX ON A SALE
- 10%on the gain, not the proceeds
- WHERE THE RULE CAME FROM
- Tax code 2026first separate rules for virtual assets
- EXCHANGER CAPITAL
- 50 m tengeminimum, outside the financial centre
- NATIONAL LICENSING
- Since 1 May 2026National Bank, outside the AIFC
- INSIDE THE AIFC
- Separate regulatorlicensing since 2021
- PAYING IN SHOPS
- Prohibitedthe tenge stays the only money
One country, two regulators
The Astana International Financial Centre operates under its own law, its own courts and its own financial regulator, and crypto arrived there first.
That regulator has been licensing exchanges since 2021, and the platforms operating under it include names familiar to any trader. Mining companies registered there in numbers as cheap power drew them in.
Everything outside that perimeter waited until 2026. Parliament amended the digital assets law in January, and the new regime started on 1 May. From that date the National Bank licenses, regulates and supervises anyone providing digital asset services in Kazakhstan outside the financial centre.
What the National Bank now licenses
A licence covers two categories: operators exchanging unbacked digital assets, known as exchangers, and operators of digital asset trading platforms.
An exchanger needs at least 50 million tenge of charter capital. Trading platforms and operators of digital financial assets register with the bank rather than holding a licence in the same form, and the bank published separate rules covering issuance, circulation, redemption, risk management and internal control.
Where you trade decides who supervises you. A platform inside the financial centre answers to its regulator, a platform outside answers to the National Bank, and the two rulebooks differ.
Ten percent on the gain
The tax code that took effect on 1 January 2026 wrote separate rules for virtual assets for the first time.
An individual selling crypto pays income tax at 10% on the difference between the sale price and a documented purchase price. The tax lands on the gain rather than the gross proceeds, which makes your records the deciding factor: without receipts, exchange statements or bank records proving what you paid, you have no acquisition cost to subtract.
Sell through a licensed platform in the financial centre and the tax tends to come off at source. Sell elsewhere and you declare it yourself, on the annual return for income and assets.
What stays off limits
Buying from a stranger hand to hand falls outside the licensed system and outside its protections.
Paying for goods in crypto remains prohibited: the tenge is the only money in Kazakhstan, and no seller may accept anything else. Mining without registration is its own offence, and cheap electricity had built mining into an industry here long before the rules arrived.
What this means if you are moving there
Ten percent on realised gains sits below what most of Europe charges, and the paperwork requirement is where that advantage slips away.
Keep proof of every purchase from the first transaction. Kazakhstan taxes the difference, and an undocumented purchase price turns your whole sale price into taxable gain. Decide from the start whether you trade inside the financial centre or outside it, because the answer sets your regulator, your protections and whether the tax comes off at source.
Allowed
- Buy, hold and sell crypto through licensed platforms
- Pay 10% on the realised gain rather than on the sale price
- Mine, once registered as a miner
- Trade inside the financial centre under its own regulator
Restricted
- Paying for goods and services in crypto, which stays prohibited
- Buying hand to hand outside the licensed system
- Mining without registration
- Selling without documents proving what you paid, which turns the whole price into gain
How the rules took shape
The Astana financial centre opens with its own regulator and its own law.
That regulator starts licensing crypto exchanges inside the centre.
The new tax code writes separate rules for virtual assets: 10% on the gain.
Parliament amends the digital assets law, setting the national regime to start in May.
The National Bank begins licensing and supervising providers outside the financial centre.
Worth knowing
After China's 2021 ban the country absorbed a wave of miners and briefly supplied 18% of global hashrate — more than the grid could take, and rolling blackouts followed.
Common questions
How much tax will I pay on a crypto sale?
Ten percent on the gain, meaning the difference between what you sold for and a documented purchase price. Without documents proving the purchase, the whole sale price counts as gain.
Who regulates my exchange?
It depends where it sits. Platforms inside the Astana financial centre answer to its own regulator, which has licensed exchanges since 2021. Platforms outside answer to the National Bank under rules that started on 1 May 2026.
Can I pay for things in crypto?
No. The tenge is the only money in Kazakhstan, and paying in crypto stays prohibited.
Do I have to register to mine?
Yes. Mining without registration is an offence, separate from the rules covering exchanges and platforms.
Is the tax withheld for me?
It tends to be, when you sell through a licensed platform in the financial centre. Selling elsewhere leaves you to declare it on your annual return.
Sources
Related reading
Other countries
Updated 20.08.2026 · this is reference material, not investment or tax advice