Astana Finance Days holds session “The Results of the Pilot Project on Interaction between Banks of Kazakhstan and Crypto Exchanges registered in the AIFC”
The Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) has hosted a panel session “The Results of the Pilot Project on Interaction between Banks of Kazakhstan and Crypto Exchanges registered in the AIFC.” Participants of the pilot project on interaction between Kazakhstan’s retail commercial banks and AIFC-registered crypto exchanges gathered at a panel session to discuss the interim results of the project a year after its launch. The session included moderator Rafal Trepka, General Manager for Central Asia at Mastercard, Chief Executive Officer at ATAIX Eurasia Ltd. Arutyun Pogosyan, General Manager of Binance Kazakhstan Zhaslan Madiyev, Chief Executive Officer of Biteeu Eurasia Ltd. Talgat Dossanov, Advisor to CEO at Eurasian Bank Natalia Romenskaya, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Altyn Bank Zhanara Aikimbayeva and Managing Director of Bank Freedom Finance Ablaikhan Ospanov.
The objectives of the project are to provide crypto exchanges with access to the market of Kazakhstan and allow Kazakhstan residents and crypto miners to trade on the platforms of AIFC crypto exchanges; create favorable conditions for investments through fiat channels provided by STBs of Kazakhstan, and amend the national legislation of Kazakhstan and the AIFC Acts based on pilot project’s results.
The pilot involved five crypto exchanges: Binance, Ataix, Intebix, Xignal и Upbit and eight Kazakhstan’s STBs: Halyk Bank, Altyn Bank, Zaman Bank, Freedom Bank, Eurasian Bank, Bereke Bank, Nurbank and CenterCredit.
«If terms of clients, we have users from more than forty countries. We can say that the exchange is international, because somewhere around 70% of clients are foreign clients and 30% are local users. Among legal entities, 35% are AIFC participants and 65% are foreign legal entities. In terms of innovations, we have integration with GSM operators that allow you to replenish the crypto exchange through mobile wallets. The integration has already been done, but we are still waiting for approval. We also decided to develop custodial services, which is also a kind of innovation on our part,” said Arutyun Pogosyan, Chief Executive Officer of ATAIX Eurasia Ltd.
General Manager of Binance Kazakhstan Zhaslan Madiyev said: «I would like to note that such a seemingly small project as the integration of crypto exchanges with the banking sector has served as a locomotive for the development of such related areas and greatly impacted economic and social development. Kazakhstan is the only country in the post-Soviet area that has gone so far both in regulation, in the legislative framework and in market development. Considering all these factors such as legislative, regulated and institutional, it is clear that Kazakhstan is the most prepared for the development of players and the digital asset industry in general.”
“It should be noted that the regulator here is in a very active and very friendly dialogue. It does not take a position to ban everything but takes a position on how to make sure that customers are safe and secure,” said Advisor to CEO at Eurasian Bank Natalia Romenskaya.
“I can say with confidence that this is the most client-oriented regulator. That is, nowhere did we have such an opportunity to communicate by phone, by email every day with the regulator. This is a very big advantage. I am sure that the regulator is doing everything to ensure that this pilot develops also thanks to Government support. Thanks to this Kazakhstan has become the first in the region to develop in this whole direction,” said Chief Executive Officer of Biteeu Eurasia Ltd. Talgat Dossanov
Reference:
The Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) is the independent regulator of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), which is established in accordance with the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On the Astana International Financial Centre” for the purposes of regulating financial services and related activities in the AIFC. AFSA administers the AIFC Regulations and Rules and is responsible for the authorisation, registration, recognition and supervision of financial firms and market institutions in the AIFC.
Around 2,000 firms from 75 countries are registered in the AIFC. These firms provide banking, insurance, investment, professional and other services. The range of financial services offered at the AIFC is comparable to the list of services available in long-established financial centers of the world, such as London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai and others. www.afsa.kz
The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) is an independent jurisdiction with a favourable legal and regulatory environment and a developed infrastructure for starting and doing business, attracting investment, creating jobs and developing Kazakhstan’s economy. https://aifc.kz/
Contact information:
Public Relations and Communications Division of AFSA:
+7 (717) 264 73 43; +7 7172 61-37-45 email: [email protected]