The Ministry of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan has officially acknowledged the blocking of the Coinbase website in the country. This action has been in effect for some time, with Kazakhstani authorities blocking local IP addresses from accessing Coinbase since at least September.
The decision to block access to the Coinbase website was made in response to a request from the Ministry of Digital Development, another government agency, accusing Coinbase of violating the Digital Assets Act. The law, enacted in February 2023, prohibits the issuance and trading of digital currencies and cryptocurrency trading businesses without state permission. It also outlines that approval in principle for operations must be granted by the authorities of Kazakhstan’s Special Economic Zone Astana International Financial Center (AIFC).
To date, several cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance, Bybit, CaspianEx, Biteeu, ATAIX, Upbit, and Xignal&MT, have received approval from the Astana Financial Services Authority, which regulates AIFC.
The issues of accessing the Coinbase website were initially reported in September. It became apparent that the "great Kazakh investment firewall" was not only blocking access to Coinbase but also to other prominent international cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Kraken.
Kazakhstan has established stringent cryptocurrency regulations that encompass its significant cryptocurrency mining industry, one of the largest in the world. In October, eight major cryptocurrency mining operators sent an open letter to President Tokayev, highlighting the industry's challenges, especially the high energy prices affecting miners.
