Acting on a claim from regulator AFSA, the Court of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) has banned six crypto platforms from operating or advertising in Kazakhstan without a licence. The ban covers BingX, Bitcoin.com, HTX, BitMart, Coinbase and WEEX.
The ruling was issued on September 15, and LBank was originally on the list too. But the exchange blocked access for users in Kazakhstan on its own, and on September 18 the court removed it from the ruling.
The ban also applies to Google and Apple: their app stores must restrict access to these platforms’ services in Kazakhstan.
The court said that operating without a licence creates unfair competition for licensed companies, which bear the costs of AML/CFT compliance, customer due diligence and supervision.
AFSA began this work in 2025 by sending warnings to more than 20 platforms. As a result, nine of them restricted access to their apps on their own, and seven more said they would apply for an AFSA licence. Since May 2026, the regulator has been working together with the National Bank of Kazakhstan.
AFSA reminds users that clients of unlicensed platforms have no protection: nothing guarantees the safety of their assets or the handling of their complaints.
