ASTANA – Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) has signed a three-year agreement with BitGo, a U.S.-based digital asset infrastructure firm, on March 30, as it moves to build a regulated market for cryptocurrencies and lay the groundwork for tokenized finance. Speaking to The Astana Times, Abel Seow, managing director and head of APAC at BitGo, explained the reasoning behind the deal and the strategic role of Kazakhstan.
Abel Seow. Photo credit: BitGo
The partnership reflects a broader push by Kazakhstan to position itself as a regional hub for digital finance. BitGo sees the country as offering the “right environment for long-term infrastructure.”
“Kazakhstan stands out because it is taking a structured, institutional approach to digital assets. You have an established exchange like KASE, a developing regulatory framework governed by AFSA [Astana Financial Services Authority] within the AIFC [Astana International Financial Center] and the National Bank’s digital asset sandbox. It is a market that is clearly moving from policy discussion into implementation,” Seow said in a written comment to The Astana Times.
Under the agreement, BitGo will provide custody infrastructure and operational support for digital asset trading on KASE’s platform, in compliance with applicable laws and regulatory requirements. Institutional custody services include cold storage, governance frameworks and asset segregation designed to support the operational, security and regulatory requirements of exchange-based markets.
The partnership is also intended to advance KASE’s long-term strategy of broadening its market infrastructure to include digital assets. It will also lay the groundwork for future tokenization of securities and other financial instruments.
“From BitGo’s perspective, the relevance is clear: we focus on supporting regulated, institutional-grade market infrastructure. The AIFC’s emphasis on institutional participants makes that direction especially relevant in Kazakhstan,” he said.
The path to building a regulated crypto market, however, is far from straightforward. When asked what some of the biggest challenges that BitGo sees in launching exchange-level crypto infrastructure in a market like Kazakhstan, Seow pointed to the importance of custody, governance, compliance, trading access and day-to-day institutional processes evolving in tandem.
“Ensuring these components get set up takes time and resources when executed to a high standard,” he added.
“Trust is also a big part of that. For a regulated market to succeed, its infrastructure has to be clearly safer, more transparent and more operationally reliable than the alternatives. That is where BitGo adds value as an infrastructure partner, helping enable the control framework, asset protection standards, and governance capabilities that underpin institutional participation,” he explained.
Despite these challenges, Kazakhstan boasts structural advantages.
“It is worth noting that, as a jurisdiction, Kazakhstan is relatively far ahead with guidelines in place for the industry. There is already a legal framework for digital assets and an established regulatory pathway within the AIFC. Equally important is the National Bank’s architecture,” Seow said.
“What excites us the most is the upcoming growth in the supporting ecosystem – auditors, legal advisers, compliance specialists and banking partners with experience across both traditional finance and digital assets. That is what eventually turns theoretical frameworks into lasting market confidence in practice,” he said.
However, questions remain about whether such infrastructure can translate into investor trust, particularly in emerging markets where confidence in new assets is still taking shape. Crypto also faces trust issues globally.
“Traditional investors will place trust in digital asset infrastructure only if it is built to the same standards they expect from any serious financial market infrastructure – clear regulation, strong governance, transparency, and effective risk controls,” Seow explained.
“What matters most is that the market develops through a regulated framework and established institutions. That creates the basis for stronger oversight, clearer accountability, and more disciplined market practices over time,” he added, emphasizing that trust is built not from the asset class itself, but from the overall integrity of the market structure and the standards supporting it as it grows.