Report contents
APAC · Developing
Kazakhstan
Crypto Livability Index 2025·data to 31 Dec 2025
Scoreboard
Five pillars, then the 22 sub-pillars scored 0 to 4. Empty sub-scores are held out of the total, not zeroed.
The number behind the rank
| Raw capability score | 47 / 84 |
| P2P liquidity bonus (tie-breaker) | +2 |
| Inflation 11.6% · unbanked 13% · remittances 0.1% GDP · capital controls 0.78 · sanctions 0 | CNI 0.229 |
| Need multiplier | ×0.843 |
| Livability score | 0.472 |
Raw 47/84 = 0.560 capability. Crypto-Necessity Index 0.23, from five components: inflation 11.6% (three-year average 2023 to 2025), unbanked 13% of adults, remittances 0.1% of GDP, capital-control intensity 0.78 (KAOPEN 2023), sanctions exposure 0. Need multiplier ×0.84. Livability score 0.472, rank #28 of 79.
Three findings
Need lifts Kazakhstan 23 places, from #51 to #28
Inflation averaging 11.6% and a capital-control intensity of 0.78 drive the swing; remittances are negligible at 0.1% of GDP because Kazakhstan is a regional remittance sender, not receiver. The need story here is monetary instability and capital friction rather than diaspora dependence.
The most progressive crypto framework in Central Asia, fenced into one zone
The Astana International Financial Centre, governed by a separate common-law system, reached roughly 6.8 billion dollars in market value in 2025 with 29 licensed providers, 22-fold trading-volume growth, and IOSCO recognition. The catch is geographic: outside the centre's perimeter, the 2023 Law on Digital Assets prohibits circulation of unsecured tokens, so the liberal regime is the de facto reality but not the legal default.
Capability concentrated in trading, thin at the till
Kazakhstan scores well on exchange access and stablecoin pilots, including an AFSA-Bybit arrangement to accept stablecoins for regulatory fees, but utility-bill payment is 0 and the gift-card catalogue is among the thinnest, with no domestic retail SKUs on crypto aggregators. The ecosystem tilts toward mining and licensed institutional trading rather than everyday spending.
In one line
"Kazakhstan built Central Asia's most advanced crypto regime and then drew a fence around it. Inside the Astana zone, the rules are world-class; outside it, the old prohibition still stands."
Watch in 2026
Trajectory 4/4, actively liberalising. By the end of 2025 the Astana centre had 29 licensed digital-asset providers including 12 exchanges, a 6.8 billion dollar market, IOSCO recognition, and an AFSA pilot accepting stablecoins for regulatory fees, while Law No. 231-VIII removed the mandatory mining-sale requirement. The 2026 question is whether liberalisation extends beyond the zone, after President Tokayev signed legislation lifting the AIFC geographic constraint.