A collection of companies in Kazakhstan has submitted an application to be legally recognized as the state’s Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Association. The group is hoping to get the cryptocurrency ball rolling in a country that hasn’t quite embraced the increasingly popular technology yet.
Kazakhstani Companies Eager to Embrace Blockchain
“There are no companies operating in the blockchain market in Kazakhstan, but there are more companies that see the promise of technology for themselves,” Yesset Butin, co-founder and council chairperson of the newly-created group, told a local media outlet.
According to Butin, the association’s primary objective is to “prescribe the rules of the game in the blockchain market” in the Central Asian country – in collaboration with state banking authorities. The group is aiming to help craft a legislative framework that would enable the region to adopt blockchain technology.
It appears as though business owners in Kazakhstan are eager to join the endeavor. Midway through November, the association applied to be registered as a legally-recognized entity. At that point, the group already had six founding member organizations. Since then, 15 more have asked to become members.
Following in Lockstep
Kazakhstan isn’t the first to make such a move. News of the association’s founding arrived on the heels of Belarus announcing a group association looming on the horizon. Meanwhile, the Russian Association of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency (RACIB) has already been up and running for a few months. The first ICO that complies with the new legal framework in Russia, BioCoin, went live on November 1st.
Butin says that it is essential to take similar steps as Russia to make things in Kazakhstan work – building up the necessary legal framework and infrastructure to support blockchain technology. As for the market potential, he claims that the industry is simply too young to start making estimates.
Apart from working with state financial regulators, the Blockchain and Cryptourrency Association also intends on collaborating with universities to introduce blockchain educational course offerings.
Finally, Butin added that a government-supported cryptocurrency issued by the National Bank would bolster the construction of a legal platform for exchanging digital coins. The “cryptotenge,” named after the Kazakhstani fiat currency, is already on the road to becoming a reality.
Last month, the government-backed Astana International Finance Center (AIFC) announced that it was teaming up with a Maltese firm called Exante to start developing the country’s very own digital token. The AIFC’s primary goal is to position the region as a global cryptocurrency hub.