Kazakhstan’s AIFC Court has restricted Coinbase, BingX, Bitcoin(.)com, HTX, BitMart and WEEX from offering unlicensed crypto services within the Astana International Financial Centre. The inj
Kazakhstan’s AIFC Court has restricted Coinbase, BingX, Bitcoin(.)com, HTX, BitMart and WEEX from offering unlicensed crypto services within the Astana International Financial Centre. The injunction also covers marketing services and distributing related mobile apps.
The Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) said the injunctions cover BingX, Bitcoin(.)com, Huobi Global (HTX), BitMart, Coinbase and WEEX, and prohibit the platforms from offering or marketing unlicensed digital asset services and distributing mobile apps for those services within the center.
The Astana International Financial Centre is a financial hub in Kazakhstan's capital that operates under its own legal framework and regulator, and it requires crypto firms to obtain a license to offer services within the center. The order is limited in scope. Justice Sir Stephen Richards specified in a Sept. 15 judgment that the injunctions applied only to the AIFC and users located there. It does not impose a Kazakhstan-wide app ban.
App store operators are also affected. The order binds Google and Apple as app-store operators, though the court declined to issue a separate injunction against them, saying AFSA should first discuss necessary steps with the firms.
AFSA said the court entered judgment by default after the platform operators failed to respond within the required period.
AFSA said it warned more than 20 platforms about AIFC rules in 2025. Nine voluntarily restricted app access in the Central Asian country and seven said they intended to seek licenses. The Sept. 15 order named BingX, Bitcoin(.)com, Huobi Global (HTX), BitMart, Coinbase, LBank and WEEX; an amendment three days later removed LBank after its operator blocked access in Kazakhstan.
AFSA said users of unlicensed platforms lack safeguards required of licensed firms, including asset protection, disclosure, complaints handling and dispute resolution. The court emphasized that providing digital asset services without authorization undermines the integrity of the AIFC's regulatory system and creates unfair competition for licensed companies, which must comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing requirements.
AFSA Chief Executive Evgeniya Bogdanova said the decision followed extensive and consistent efforts by the regulator's Supervision and Enforcement teams against unlicensed platforms. Kazakhstan's National Bank oversees digital-asset service providers outside the AIFC.
This is not the first time Coinbase has faced limits in the country. Authorities blocked its website in 2023 over alleged violations of the country's digital asset law.
Sources:
CoinDesk: Kazakhstan court bars Coinbase, five others from unlicensed crypto services in AIFC
Cointelegraph via TradingView: Kazakhstan court orders curbs on Coinbase, BingX and four others
crypto.news: Kazakhstan court orders restrictions on Coinbase, BingX and four others
