Kazakhstan Stock Exchange JSC (KASE) has selected BitGo as its digital asset infrastructure partner in a three-year deal that will see the San Francisco-based custodian support custody and trading infrastructure as the exchange builds out regulated crypto and tokenization capabilities.
The partnership, announced yesterday in a statement, comes at a critical time for Kazakhstan’s digital finance ambitions. While the country has historically been a global hub for crypto mining, its regulatory focus has shifted toward institutional services and exchange frameworks.
Trading on platforms licensed by the Astana International Financial Centre has surged more than twentyfold — from roughly $280 million in 2023 to nearly $6.3 billion in the first three quarters of 2025 — and regulators have been moving aggressively to bring the sector to heel. In January, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed legislation establishing a regulatory framework for digital assets , granting the National Bank of Kazakhstan authority to license exchanges and approve which cryptocurrencies can be traded on regulated platforms.
KASE, which ranks second among CIS exchanges by securities trading volume, is positioning itself as the institutional on-ramp for that growth. Under the partnership, BitGo will provide cold storage infrastructure, policy-based governance controls, and asset segregation designed to meet the compliance requirements of an exchange environment. The agreement also lays groundwork for future tokenization of securities and other financial instruments.
"KASE is consistently developing a modern and technologically sustainable market infrastructure capable of effectively supporting both traditional and digital financial assets," said Adil Mukhamejanov, Chairman of KASE's Management Board. "Our collaboration with BitGo strengthens the foundation necessary for secure development of digital asset markets and implementation of tokenization initiatives in Kazakhstan."
The deal reflects a broader regional trend. Kazakhstan's National Bank has announced plans to launch a national crypto custodial service by May 2026, to be built on the country's Central Depository — a signal that institutional-grade custody is becoming the cornerstone of the government's digital asset strategy. Earlier this month, Reuters reported that the country aims to invest up to $350 million into cryptocurrency assets, leveraging seized digital assets and mining returns, to establish a national digital asset fund valued at $500 million to $1 billion, .
"Exchanges and financial market institutions around the world are evaluating how digital assets and blockchain technology can modernize market infrastructure," said Mike Belshe, CEO and Co-founder of BitGo. "We are pleased to work with KASE to provide the infrastructure to support digital asset activity within a regulated exchange framework and to help lay the groundwork for future tokenization use cases."
BitGo listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BTGO and operates BitGo Bank & Trust, described as the first federally chartered digital asset trust bank owned by a publicly traded company. The firm has provided custody and trading infrastructure to exchanges and financial institutions since 2013.
Kazakhstan's parliament passed amendments in late December 2025 pulling digital assets into the mainstream banking framework, meaning licensed exchanges and service providers must now operate under standards similar to banks, including AML and investor protection requirements. That tightening regulatory environment makes the case for institutional partners like BitGo — one that KASE appears to have acted on quickly.
As of 2025, around 95% of digital asset turnover — worth more than €13 billion — was still taking place outside the legal system, according to the head of Kazakhstan's National Blockchain Association. Formalising that activity through regulated venues like KASE is central to the government's strategy, and partnerships with established custody providers are a key part of how exchanges worldwide are making that case to regulators.
