Kazakhstan allows banks to serve digital currency exchanges

Digital currency companies, including exchanges, will now be able to open bank accounts and access all financial services in Kazakhstan. In a pilot project, the Asian country is seeking to make digital currency investment mainstream to attract investment from the global community as well as enhance protection for its local investors.

Kazakhstan has attracted the attention of the digital currency world in recent months as one of the biggest destinations for block reward miners that are being booted out of China. The country has also seen a rapid surge in digital currency adoption.

And now, authorities are seeking to enhance access to financial services for the industry. The Kazakh Association of Blockchain and Data Center Industry confirmed recently that exchanges that register with the Astana International Financial Center will be able to work with local banks. This will allow their clients to “officially and openly work with cryptocurrency.”

A report by Khabar 24, a local news channel, revealed that the government is planning on using the pilot project to assess the risks and benefits of digital assets. It will run for a year, according to Sergey Putra, an executive at the blockchain association.

Sergey lauded the move, stating that it was about time the government became more involved in the digital currency industry. Kazakh citizens have already become quite involved in digital currency trading, he observed. In addition, the country has become an important destination for block reward miners.

Sergey further noted that regulating the industry could attract digital currency investors from the world over, with the industry now worth over $1.5 trillion.

“…even if Kazakhstan takes some fraction of this market, even one percent of this turnover, this is serious money that will come to Kazakhstan in the form of investments, [and it] will remain here in the form of taxes, in the form of jobs, and salaries. This is a very large industry, which Kazakhstan still bypasses,” he observed.

The new directive comes at a time when the Central Asian country is working on a roadmap geared towards adoption of digital currencies and blockchain technology. Prime Minister Askar Mamin expressed his plan to attract companies in the sector and compete with other global powers like Switzerland and Malta which are advancing rapidly in digital currency regulation.

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