Kazakhstan’s AIFC court bars Coinbase, BingX, HTX and three other exchanges from unlicensed services in the Astana financial centre

Summary

The Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) said on Tuesday that the AIFC Court has granted injunctions barring the operators of BingX, Bitcoin.com, Huobi Global (HTX), BitMart, Coinbase and WEEX from providing, offering or advertising digital asset services, or distributing apps for them, in the Astana International Financial Centre without a licence.

The court’s Sept. 15 default judgment also named LBank, but an amended order on Sept. 18 removed it after its operator blocked access to its services in Kazakhstan, AFSA said; CoinDesk reported the judgment was entered by default after the operators failed to respond in time.

The order says Google and Apple are to be served with notice and will then be bound by it as app-store operators; CoinDesk reported the court declined to issue a separate injunction against them, saying AFSA should first discuss the necessary steps with the companies.

CoinDesk said the injunctions apply only to the AIFC and users located there and are not a nationwide ban, and Cointelegraph noted that Kazakhstan’s National Bank oversees digital-asset service providers outside the AIFC.

Key facts

• AFSA CEO Evgeniya Bogdanova said the regulator warned more than 20 crypto platforms in 2025 and started court proceedings in early 2026; nine platforms then voluntarily restricted their apps in Kazakhstan and AFSA withdrew its claims against them, while seven said they intend to seek an AFSA licence. (Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA press release))
• The court ordered the operators to pay AFSA’s costs of KZT 1,995,479.95, jointly and severally, according to the Sept. 15 judgment and order. (AIFC Court (default judgment and order))
• AFSA said users of unlicensed platforms lack the protections required of licensed firms, including safeguarding of assets, disclosure, complaints handling and dispute resolution, and that it has worked with the National Bank of Kazakhstan on enforcement since May 2026. (Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA press release))
• CoinDesk noted that Kazakh authorities blocked Coinbase’s website in 2023 over alleged violations of the country’s digital asset law. (CoinDesk)
• Cointelegraph said Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Agency blocked access to almost 1,000 unregistered crypto exchanges in 2023. (Cointelegraph)
• Neither CoinDesk nor Cointelegraph had received comment from the named platforms at publication. (CoinDesk)