Crypto exchange Bybit has become the first crypto exchange to debut stablecoin payments for regulatory fees in Kazakhstan’s AIFC.
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Kazakhstan’s financial regulators have allowed license and supervision fees to be paid in USD-pegged stablecoins.
Kazakhstan’s Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA), a designated financial authority for the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), has launched a project enabling AIFC members to pay regulatory fees in USD-pegged .
The regulator on Thursday that the project was officially launched at the local event Astana Finance Days 2025, signing a related multilateral memorandum of understanding (MMoU) with the centralized crypto exchange (CEX) Bybit.
“This initiative represents a first-of-its-kind regulatory framework for payments in stablecoins in the region, signaling Kazakhstan’s ambition to position the AIFC as a hub for digital finance […],” AFSA CEO Evgeniya Bogdanova said.
Replacing fiat-only payments
Currently, companies pay regulatory fees primarily through traditional methods such as bank transfers and wire payments in such as the US dollar and the Kazakhstani tenge, a spokesperson for Bybit told Cointelegraph.
“These methods are functional but often involve delays, high transaction costs and limited flexibility, especially for firms whose primary treasury is held in digital assets,” the representative said.
With stablecoins like Tether USDt () or Circle’s USDC (), the parties are provided with a fast, cost-efficient, and transparent payment option, the Bybit spokesperson noted.
Participation is subject to eligibility criteria
According to the official statement from the AFSA, the project’s participation requires signing an MMoU, subject to meeting the authority’s eligibility criteria.
Bybit became the inaugural signatory of the MMoU, which was signed during Astana Finance Days 2025 by AFSA’s Bogdanova and Bybit CEO Mazurka Zeng.
The names of the providers participating in the new project will be published on the official AFSA website after signing an MMoU, the regulator said.
Cointelegraph approached the AFSA for comment regarding the project details, including eligibility criteria, but had not received a response at the time of publication.
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The news came amid crypto gaining momentum in Kazakhstan, with the US-regulated crypto custodian BitGo assisting the launch of by the local company Fonte Capital in August.
Kazakhstan has emerged as a major player in the crypto industry, . In June, local authorities also reported , likely funded by digital assets mined or seized by the government.
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