Kazakhstan Trials USD Stablecoins For Regulatory Fee Payments

Months after publishing its rulebook, Kazakhstan’s AFSA is putting its stablecoin regime to work. The regulator is now accepting license and supervision fees in U.S. dollar-pegged digital assets through a select group of agents.

According to a press release dated September 5, the Astana Financial Services Authority has initiated a pilot program permitting firms within its jurisdiction to settle regulatory fees using USD-pegged stablecoins.

The program was unveiled during the Astana Finance Days conference and operates under a multilateral memorandum of understanding. Bybit Kazakhstan, a local entity of the global crypto exchange, is the first licensed digital asset service provider to sign on as an agent, facilitating on-chain payments for other AIFC participants before converting and remitting the final amount to the regulator’s traditional bank account.

The Kazakh regulator stipulated that only a specific class of firms can participate in the pilot. Eligibility is restricted to Digital Asset Service Providers that already hold an AFSA license to offer money services related to digital assets or operate a trading facility.

As the inaugural agent, Bybit Kazakhstan will provide the technical backbone for the pilot’s initial phase. According to the release, the exchange will furnish AFSA with a customized Bybit QR Pay solution and a dedicated stablecoin wallet system designed specifically for invoicing.

“Stablecoins are reshaping global finance, and by accepting regulatory fees in USD-pegged stablecoins we make the AIFC faster, more open, and firmly connected to the future — offering participants a modern, reliable way to grow within a trusted regulatory framework,” Evgeniya Bogdanova, AFSA’s chief executive, said.

The program’s launch builds on groundwork laid in January 2024, when AFSA introduced a dedicated stablecoin regulatory framework, one of the first of its kind in Central Asia. Later that year, the regulator issued the country’s first fiat-backed stablecoin license to AnchorX.KZ Limited.

Beyond AFSA, Kazakhstan’s central bank is pursuing its own digital currency initiative, with a pilot for the digital tenge already underway and full rollout slated for 2025. Together, these moves indicate a broader national strategy to modernize payments infrastructure and bring digital assets into a regulated fold.