Kazakhstan, one of the largest Bitcoin (BTC) mining hubs in the world, has announced plans to introduce new crypto regulations aimed at reducing tax evasion and illegal business operations.
A new law signed by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on February 6 restored the nation’s stance against illegal mining operations and the issuance of crypto assets. On the two separate legislationsthe first requires that issuers of secure digital assets have government authorization.
In addition, these issuers will be subject to supervision in accordance with the law of the territory — “On the fight against the legalization (laundering) of the proceeds of crime and the financing of terrorism”. The law will come into force on April 1, 2023.
The second legislation targets insecure digital assets, usually obtained through crypto-mining operations. To reduce the possibility of tax evasion, crypto miners in Kazakhstan will be required to sell at least 75% of their earnings through registered crypto exchanges. 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 differs depending on whether the miner owns the mining facilities or not.
Related: Kazakhstan Among Top 3 Bitcoin Mining Destinations After US & China
Along with the introduction of the above laws, Kazakhstan started the pilot project of its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) project – the “digital tenge”.
Along with the National Bank of Kazakhstan, #binance presented a bilateral report on “the state of the digital asset and DeFi industry in Central Asia”.
The joint report provides an overview of crypto adoption, general DeFi trends, and the local digital asset industry.
— Binance (@binance) February 3, 2023
A joint report by the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) and Binance NBK Deputy Governor Berik Sholpankupov wrote about the bank’s vision of a “collaboration between traditional finance and DeFi”, adding:
“In Kazakhstan, we have also started a hands-on R&D project to explore how our CBDC – Digital Tenge, can bridge the crypto world with traditional fiat payment infrastructure.”
Previously, in October 2022, Kazakhstan’s Astana Financial Services Authority (ASFA) granted Binance a permanent license to operate a digital asset platform and provide custody services.
