Kraken’s parent company, Payward, announced that Kazakhstan’s Astana Financial Services Authority had granted its local subsidiary preliminary approval to offer digital asset trading, investment dealing and custody within the Astana International Financial Centre. This is not a final operating license: Payward must meet the regulator’s remaining requirements before it can begin licensed activities.
If it receives final authorization, Payward plans to give Kazakhstan-based clients access to Kraken’s global order books. The source says Kazakhstan held about 18% of global Bitcoin hashrate at its 2021 peak, while a Hashrateindex.com heatmap puts its share at 1.6%.
