A financial institution and a coin trading platform in Kazakhstan have teamed up to realize what they say is the country’s first such joint transaction to purchase cryptocurrency.
First Banking Operation with Crypto Assets Opens the Door to Legal Currency Purchases in Kazakhstan
Almaty-based Eurasia Bank and Kazakhstan-based crypto exchange Intebix announced that they have launched the first crypto-related transaction in the country, which includes a digital asset trading platform, a banking institution and a client. The deal, in which the cryptocurrency is purchased with local fiat, was announced on the Digital Bridge 2022 forum.
“This precedent made it possible for Kazakhs to legally purchase cryptocurrencies for tenge, while Eurasia Bank’s proprietary solution made it possible to set one of the lowest fees in the world for such a transaction,” the bank said in a press release. Talgat Dosanov, Director of Intebix Exchange, went further and claimed:
This is the first cryptocurrency exchange-bank-client transaction in the entire Eurasian continent. In May of this year, regulators approved pilot regulations allowing crypto transactions in Kazakhstan under certain conditions.
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The process of buying crypto with Kazakhstan tenge was demonstrated to the country’s head of state. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stated that if the trial is successful, his administration is ready to support the further development of the project that will facilitate the crypto-asset exchange at the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC), the financial hub of Central Asia.
Tokayev emphasized that Kazakhstan plans to become a leading player in the field of new digital technologies, cryptocurrency ecosystem and regulated digital mining. “If this financial instrument shows greater demand and security, it will certainly get full legal recognition,” he said.
The pilot project at AIFC was launched last summer when registered crypto exchanges were allowed to open accounts at local banks. Intebix (operating in the EU and Australia under the Biteeu brand) and Ataix Eurasia, as well as Halyk Bank, Altyn Bank and Eurasia Bank, are participating in the tests. The pilot will serve until the end of 2022.
Eurasia Bank also announced its plan to issue a crypto card this year. It will be linked to an Intebix wallet and holders will be able to pay in tenge as they spend their digital currency.
