Kazakhstan, one of the world's largest bitcoin, The mining hub has announced plans to introduce new crypto regulations to reduce tax fraud and illegal business operations.
A new law signed by Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Feb. 6 restores the country’s stance against illegal mining operations and the issuance of crypto assets. The first of two distinct pieces of legislation requires issuers of secure digital assets to obtain a government license.
In addition, such issuers will be subject to the supervision of the country’s current law “On the Legalization of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and the Financing of Terrorism”. The law will come into effect on April 1, 2023.
The second piece of legislation targets unsecured digital assets, often obtained through crypto mining operations. To reduce the possibility of tax evasion, cryptocurrency miners in Kazakhstan will be forced to sell at least 75 percent of their earnings through registered cryptocurrency exchanges. The rule, which seeks to collect “information on revenues of digital miners and digital mining pools for tax purposes,” will take effect from January 1, 2024 to January 1, 2025.
All crypto mining licenses in Kazakhstan are valid for three years, depending on whether the miner owns a mining facility or not. In a report jointly published by the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) and cryptocurrency exchange Binance, NBK Deputy Governor Berik Sholpankupov wrote about the bank’s vision for “cooperation between traditional finance and DeFi,” adding:
“In Kazakhstan, we have also launched a practical R&D project to explore how our CBDC, Digital Tenge, can bridge the world of cryptocurrencies with traditional fiat payment infrastructure.”
Previously, in October 2022, the Astana Financial Services Authority of Kazakhstan granted Binance a permanent license to manage digital asset platforms and provide custody services.
