Kazakhstan’s Parliament Adopts Law Regulating Crypto Mining and Exchange
A bill designed to regulate cryptocurrency and related activities in the Central Asian nation has been adopted by the Senate of Kazakhstan. According to local media, along with additional legislation documents, the new law “On Digital Assets in the Republic of Kazakhstan” creates sufficient conditions for establishing a crypto ecosystem in the country.
The comprehensive package was considered by members of the upper house of parliament in early January and amendments were proposed by some members of the lower house, which had already approved their version into law. While the lower house was dissolved on 19 January by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and called for early elections at the same time.
Senator Bekbolat Orynbekov, citing the Zakon.kz portal, explains that until a new Majlis is elected, the Senate has all kinds of powers that can be exercised, in particular, the digital property law. And related acts constitute a shirt of law that will allow the head of state of Kazakhstan to carry out his duties in relation to the mining and operation of digital goods and its currencies.
Another essential change introduced by the senator included amendments to Kazakhstan’s legislation on the budget and administration of justice and other payments under administrative offences, which have not yet been signed by Tokayev. A key goal for the government is to regulate the activity of digital currency companies in the country and Kazakhstan has become a crypto mining hotspot following China’s crackdown on the industry. The influx of miners has been blamed for the lack of electricity.
The latest adopted law develops a framework for the sector and fine-tunes the market for digital assets by implementing licenses for both miners and cryptocurrency exchanges, and authorities hope it will attract more foreign investment and boost the state’s economy. The budget will increase revenue. Registered crypto miners started paying extremely high surcharges for electricity used in July 2022 under a law signed by President Tokayev following the new rule adopted on January 1.
