Kazakhstan Officially Blocks Access To Coinbase Site

Kazakhstan has officially blocked access to the Coinbase website (photo: twitter @coinbaseuk)

The Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan has officially confirmed that it has blocked access to Coinbase's website in the country. Kazakh authorities have blocked local IP addresses from being able to access Coinbase since at least September.

According to a report from local media, Kuriv, published on November 7, access to the Coinbase website was blocked under orders from the Ministry of Culture and Information. The Ministry's representative explained to journalists that the request came from another government agency, namely the Ministry of Digital Development, which accused Coinbase of violating the Digital Assets Act.

The Law on Digital Assets, which took effect in February 2023, prohibits the issuance and trading of digital currencies as well as operations to exchange crypto without a national license. Initial approval for operations was granted by the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) authorities, a special economic zone in Kazakhstan.

To date, Binance, Bybit, CaspianEx, Biteu, ATAIX, Upbit, and Xignal&MT have been approved by the Astana Financial Services Authority, which regulates AIFC.

The first report on the issue of access to the Coinbase website emerged last September when local Telegram media, Finance.kz, wrote that the "great Kazakh investment wall" blocks access not only to Coinbase, but also to Kraken and other major international crypto exchanges.

Kazakhstan has implemented a strict regulatory approach to cryptocurrencies, including the crypto mining sector, which is one of the largest in the world.

In October, eight major crypto mining operators signed an open letter to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, stating that the crypto mining industry is in a "very difficult situation" due to high energy prices for miners.