Kazakhstan court limits Coinbase, BingX and four others in AIFC

A court serving the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) issued injunctions against six crypto exchanges for offering unlicensed services inside the financial free zone, the AIFC's financial regulator said in an announcement dated Oct. 20. The Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) said the judgment, dated Sept. 15 and amended Sept. 18 to remove LBank, covers BingX, Bitcoin.com, Huobi Global/HTX, BitMart, Coinbase and WEEX.

The measures restrict the firms from marketing or providing virtual asset services to AIFC participants and include blocking related mobile applications within the centre's boundaries. AFSA CEO Evgeniya Bogdanova said the authority acted after finding the platforms operated without the required authorization under AIFC rules. The free zone has its own regulatory perimeter for financial services, separate from Kazakhstan's national licensing regime.

CoinDesk reported that the order applies inside the AIFC and does not amount to a nationwide ban on the exchanges, which continue to serve users elsewhere in Kazakhstan under separate licensing paths. Cointelegraph reported the same six-name list and the mobile-app restrictions. CryptoSlate framed the story as a mobile-access shutdown for the six platforms, without expanding the geographic scope beyond the AIFC.

Kazakhstan tightened rules on offshore exchanges starting in 2024, when a wave of international platforms withdrew from the market under pressure from local licensing requirements. Several large venues obtained or sought national licenses after that period, while others left retail access open through offshore entities. The AIFC judgment is the first public court order of its kind for the free zone since that wave, and it signals that AFSA will use injunctive relief rather than administrative fines alone when unlicensed platforms target AIFC participants.

None of the six exchanges has issued a detailed public response to the AIFC order. Coinbase, BingX and Huobi already maintain some form of licensed or registered presence in other jurisdictions, but the AIFC ruling does not address their operations outside the free zone. Further appeals or compliance filings with AFSA have not been reported.

The AIFC operates under English common law principles inside Kazakhstan, with AFSA as the financial services regulator for participants inside the free zone. That structure lets AFSA pursue injunctive relief through AIFC courts even when a platform has no local legal entity, as long as the marketing or service delivery targets AIFC participants. The removal of LBank from the amended order suggests AFSA tailored the final injunction to platforms it could show had directed activity into the zone.

Kazakhstan's national licensing regime, administered by the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market, has already brought several exchanges into a formal licensing path for retail crypto services outside the AIFC. Those licenses do not automatically cover AIFC activity, and AFSA's perimeter is separate. The dual-track system has left platforms unsure whether compliance with national rules is enough to avoid AIFC orders, and the judgment answers that question in the negative for the six named firms.

None of the six exchanges has published a detailed response. Coinbase, BingX and Huobi maintain licensed or registered presences in other jurisdictions, but those arrangements do not address AIFC-specific authorization. WEEX, BitMart and Bitcoin.com have smaller institutional footprints in Central Asia. Further appeals or AFSA compliance filings have not been reported since the Oct. 20 announcement.

The judgment date of Sept. 15, followed by a Sept. 18 amendment removing LBank, indicates AFSA refined its evidence package before the order became public on Oct. 20. That three-week gap between decision and announcement is consistent with service of process and appeal windows under AIFC court rules. No appeal has been reported, and none of the six firms has said it will seek to vary the order.

Mobile app blocking inside a free zone is technically narrower than a national ISP block. Enforcement depends on app store compliance and on AIFC participants ceasing to use the services. AFSA's authority does not extend to personal use by Kazakh citizens outside the free zone, which remains under the national regulator. The practical effect is limited to institutions and individuals operating inside the AIFC's regulatory perimeter.