Kazakhstan, one of the world’s largest Bitcoin (BTC) mining centers, announced plans to introduce new crypto regulations aimed at reducing tax fraud and illegal business operations.
A new law signed by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on February 6 restores the country’s stance against illegal mining operations and the issuance of crypto assets. Of the two different laws, the first requires issuers of secure digital assets to have government approval.
In addition, the issuer will be monitored in accordance with the existing state law – “Combating the Legalization (Laundering) of the Proceeds of Crime and Terrorist Financing.” The law will take effect from April 1, 2023.
The second law targets unsecured digital assets, usually obtained through crypto mining operations. To reduce the possibility of tax evasion, crypto miners in Kazakhstan will need at least 75% of their revenue through a registered crypto exchange. This rule, which aims to collect “information on the income of digital miners and digital mining pools for tax purposes,” will be effective from January 1, 2024 to January 1, 2025.
All crypto mining licenses in Kazakhstan are issued for a limited period of three years – which varies based on whether the miner has mining facilities or not.
Related: Kazakhstan is among the top 3 Bitcoin mining destinations after the US and China
In addition to introducing the above legislation, Kazakhstan launched a pilot project of the central bank’s digital currency (CBDC) – “digital tenge.”
Besides the National Bank of Kazakhstan, #Binance presents a bilateral report on “Digital Asset and DeFi Industry Countries in Central Asia”.
The combined report provides an overview of crypto adoption, general DeFi trends, and the local digital asset industry.
– Binance (@binance) February 3, 2023
A joint report published by the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) and crypto exchange Binance NBK deputy governor Berik Sholpankupov wrote about the bank’s vision of “collaboration between traditional finance and DeFi,” adding:
“In Kazakhstan, we also started a practical R&D project to explore how CBDC – Digital Tenge, can link the world of crypto with traditional fiat payment infrastructure.”
Previously, in October 2022, Kazakhstan’s Astana Financial Services Authority (ASFA) granted Binance a permanent license to manage a digital asset platform and provide custody services.