Kazakhstan is piloting a project that allows companies to pay regulatory fees with USD-pegged stablecoins. The Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA), the financial regulator for the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), officially launched the initiative at Astana Finance Days 2025. A multilateral memorandum of understanding (MMoU) was signed with the centralized crypto exchange (CEX) Bybit to enable the project.
According to AFSA CEO Evgeniya Bogdanova, this is the first regulatory framework for stablecoin payments in the region, highlighting Kazakhstan's ambition to establish the AIFC as a digital finance hub.
Traditionally, companies paid regulatory fees via bank transfers and wire payments using fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar and the Kazakhstani tenge. A Bybit spokesperson stated that while these methods are functional, they often involve delays, high transaction costs, and limited flexibility, especially for firms primarily holding digital assets. Stablecoins like Tether USDt or Circle's USDC offer a faster, more cost-efficient, and transparent payment option.
To participate in the project, companies must sign an MMoU and meet the authority's eligibility criteria. Bybit was the first signatory of the MMoU, with the signing taking place during Astana Finance Days 2025 by AFSA's Bogdanova and Bybit CEO Mazurka Zeng.
Asset managers representing firms with approximately US$1.5 trillion in assets under management are participating in Astana Finance Days 2025. This demonstrates the forum's importance as a leading platform in Eurasia for meetings, deal-making, and discussions between financial institutions, businesses, government bodies, and experts from Kazakhstan and across Eurasia.
Other initiatives launched at Astana Finance Days 2025 include a Commodity Tokenization pilot project, the first of its kind in the Eurasian region, aiming to digitally transform agricultural assets using blockchain technology. Also, a new integrated front office for investor support was launched at the AIFC Expat Centre.
