Crypto exchange Binance has obtained preliminary approval from the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) to operate in Kazakhstan, a step toward becoming licensed to operate as a digital asset trading facility and custody provider in the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC).
AFSA, an independent financial technology regulator, is the first in the central Asian country to give in-principle approval to any Binance entity. The AIFC allows start-ups to carry out regulated activities. Binance Kazakhstan still needs to complete the full application process before it can start operations, the company said in a blog post on Monday.
Binance has been working with Kazakhstan, known for crypto mining, to help it develop a regulatory regime for digital assets as the country looks to bolster its crypto industry. The company said in May that it would be helping the country develop digital asset regulation. At the same time, the exchange has strengthened its compliance team and earned approvals and provisional approvals from countries including France, Dubai and Spain after drawing the ire of regulators in locations such as the U.K. and Japan last year and Uzbekistan and Israel this year.
“This further signifies Binance’s commitment to being a compliance-first exchange and providing products and services in a safe and well regulated environment across the globe,” Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said in the blog.
