Astana, 27 October. Kraken, one of the world's largest crypto platforms, has received in-principle approval from the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA), the regulator of the Astana International Financial Centre, and the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the company, the ministry said.
The memorandum followed a meeting between Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov and Kraken co-CEO David Ripley at the AI & Digital Bridge 2026 forum. It provides for cooperation on improving digital-asset regulation, integrating banking infrastructure with the digital-asset market, introducing blockchain technology and raising financial literacy.
In-principle approval is not a licence but one stage of licensing: as the ministry explained, it creates the conditions for the company to start operating in the AIFC jurisdiction once it meets the established requirements. Kraken can trade with Kazakh customers only after receiving a full AFSA licence; no timing has been given. "Receiving in-principle approval from AFSA is an important milestone on Payward's path to the Kazakh market," Ripley said; Payward is Kraken's parent company.
Kraken was founded in the United States in 2011 and offers buying, selling, custody and trading of digital assets to retail and institutional clients.
What it means: Kazakhstan, which a week ago used the courts to shut out unlicensed crypto exchanges, is letting in a major international platform, but only through an AIFC licence and after it meets the regulator's requirements.
Who benefits: Kraken, which gains entry to a regulated Central Asian market; the state, which sees its course towards a legal crypto hub confirmed; Kazakh users, who gain access to a large platform supervised by a local rather than offshore regulator.
Background: On 21 October the AIFC court banned Coinbase and five other crypto exchanges from operating in Kazakhstan without a licence: only exchanges licensed by AFSA operate legally in the country.
We have also reported that the AIFC court banned Coinbase and five other crypto exchanges from operating in Kazakhstan.
