Latest Payments News: Kazakhstan Completes Five-Year Shift to Regulated Crypto Market, and more

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Kazakhstan Completes Five-Year Shift to Regulated Crypto Market

New legislation seeks to establish the jurisdiction as a regional hub for regulated digital finance by offering a legal environment that could attract both domestic and international players.

Kazakhstan’s new banking law represents a significant modernisation of the country’s financial system, formally integrating cryptocurrencies and digital financial assets into the mainstream financial sector and marking the end of a five-year transition towards a more innovation-focused model of finance.

The law introduces digital financial assets (DFAs) as a new class of regulated assets, bringing tokenised instruments, stablecoins and other blockchain‑based assets into the legal fold.

It defines three types of DFAs: stablecoins backed by fiat, assets backed by financial instruments or property, and electronic financial instruments issued on digital platforms.

Operators of digital platforms will be subject to licensing and supervision by the National Bank of Kazakhstan. Requirements for risk management, disclosure and investor protection that apply to traditional financial instruments will similarly apply to these digital assets.

Importantly for the cryptocurrency market, the law also establishes a framework for licensing and regulating cryptocurrency exchange operations.

Unsecured digital assets, including Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies, will be tradable through licensed crypto exchange organisations, whose activities will be regulated by the central bank.

The National Bank is empowered to determine a list of approved cryptocurrencies permitted for circulation and set operational limits, investor protections and anti‑money laundering (AML) rules for crypto service providers.

Crypto exchange operators and other market participants in the digital‑asset ecosystem will be included in the list of entities subject to financial monitoring.

In addition to private digital assets, the law formally recognises the digital tenge, Kazakhstan's central bank digital currency (CBDC), as a legally sanctioned form of national currency.

The digital tenge is intended to complement cash and traditional electronic payments, enabling faster, cheaper and more secure transactions.

Competing Reports on CFPB Downsizing Signal Continued Volatility for Regulated Firms

As the battle over the Trump Administration’s plans for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) enters a new phase, firms operating in the US can expect fragmented oversight and inconsistent enforcement.

Although litigation to prevent job cuts at the CFPB has been ongoing since February 2025, a new challenge to the administration’s position has emerged via a government audit sponsored by Democratic lawmakers.

In February 2026, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) published the first of two reports on the reorganisation of the CFPB, as requested by five senior Democrats led by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

The group asked GAO to review the effect of the bureau’s stop-work orders, workforce reductions and contract terminations on its ability to fulfil its statutorily mandated functions.

The first report describes the “status” of the CFPB’s reorganisation efforts; the second will examine the “effects”.

To produce the report, GAO analysed publicly available information and sought to work directly with CFPB officials. However, according to the auditors, CFPB officials declined to meet with GAO and did not provide requested information, citing ongoing litigation constraints.

GAO argues that such litigation does not limit its authority under 31 U.S.C. § 716 to obtain information required for audits, nor does it diminish the bureau’s obligation to provide it.

Nonetheless, it is clear that there was some communication between GAO and CFPB officials, although this communication appears to have been satisfactory to neither party.

In a written statement published in an appendix to the report, CFPB chief legal officer Mark Paoletta described GAO’s work as a “hyper-partisan” attempt to “undermine” President Trump’s reforms. He said the CFPB did “engage” with GAO and tried to address “serious concerns” about “inaccuracies and misinformation” in the report, but these concerns went unheard.

“Despite serious flaws with the report’s accuracy and GAO’s inappropriate intent, CFPB staff have cooperated and attempted, where possible, to provide accurate data and context in the limited and arbitrary timelines set by GAO,” said Paoletta.

“It is the Bureau’s sincere hope that GAO will arrest its efforts to produce biased and flawed materials to smear President Trump’s historic reforms efforts.”

The exchange of rhetoric between GAO and the CFPB goes beyond routine bureaucratic friction, and suggests that GAO may be prepared to sue for information required for its second report.

Democrat lawmakers who already believe the White House and CFPB are acting outside of their statutory authority may also interpret the bureau’s perceived lack of cooperation with government auditors as further evidence of unlawful conduct.

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