Kazakhstan to bring more regulations for crypto miners

New measures that seek to establish suitable regulations in the local crypto industry have reportedly received approval from the Mazhilis, the lower house of Kazakhstan’s parliament. If implemented, it would require miners to establish registered entities, approved by the regulators, and continue to pay taxes under its taxation policy.

Crypto mining issues in Kazakhstan 

Though Kazakhstan is a world leader in cryptocurrency mining, it has some issues with so-called “gray miners” who operate without the proper licenses.

Five new measures that potentially address those issues have just been approved by the lower house of parliament, according to recent news reports.

The legislation, according to Ekaterina Smyshlyaeva, a member of the Committee on Economic Reform and Regional Development, will require cryptocurrency miners to seek approval from the relevant financial regulators, create legal entities, and turn into “full-fledged subjects of taxation.”

“At the same time, the activities of miners and mining pools will be regulated and licensed by the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation, and Aerospace Industry,” she stated.

The new structure will impose extensive taxes on the import of bitcoin mining equipment, provided it is made law. Additionally, starting in 2024, miners will be required to swap up to 75% of their wealth on local crypto platforms.

According to the project, cryptocurrency exchanges will be subject to financial monitoring and integrated with the State Revenue Committee’s information systems. By transferring all crypto transactions to local exchanges, Kazakhstan is aiming more transparency and less illegal activities in the sector. 

Over a million citizens of the Central Asian nation are believed to trade digital assets on foreign exchanges. The ruling body intends to move them all to local trading platforms. However, after signing Memorandum of Understanding with Kazakhstan government, crypto exchange Binance recently obtained permanent license from AFSA to become a regulated platform in the country, as TheCoinRise reported.