aza

The parent company of Kraken, Payward, has received preliminary approval from the Kazakhstan AFSA and plans to offer digital asset trading, investment trading, and custody services through Payward Kazakhstan at the Astana International Financial Centre. After obtaining the final license, local users will also have access to Kraken's global order book and major market liquidity.

According to Cointelegraph, the Astana International Financial Centre Court (AIFC) in Kazakhstan has issued an injunction against six unlicensed cryptocurrency platforms, prohibiting them from providing digital asset services locally and expanding access restrictions to app stores. The Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) stated on Tuesday that the court made this ruling after the regulatory agency sued the operators of the relevant platforms for providing digital asset services without authorization.The order issued on September 15 specifically named BingX, Bitcoin.com, Huobi Global (HTX), BitMart, Coinbase, LBank, and WEEX; a three-day later amendment removed LBank from the list, as its operator had blocked access for users in Kazakhstan. Google and Apple, as app store operators, were also included and are required to implement regional access restrictions for the remaining platforms.AFSA stated that users of unlicensed platforms lack the protections that licensed institutions should provide, including asset protection, information disclosure, complaint handling, and dispute resolution. The National Bank of Kazakhstan is responsible for regulating digital asset service providers outside of the AIFC.AFSA CEO Evgeniya Bogdanova stated that this court ruling is the result of the agency's long-term efforts by its supervision and enforcement team to address the activities of unlicensed crypto platforms that advertise without authorization and provide digital asset-related services in Kazakhstan without a license.AFSA noted that it had issued warnings to over 20 platforms by 2025, nine of which voluntarily restricted app access in the country, and seven expressed intent to apply for licenses. The agency has withdrawn its claims against these nine, and the injunction will be enforced against the remaining six. Cointelegraph previously reported that the financial regulator in Kazakhstan had blocked nearly 1,000 unregistered cryptocurrency exchanges that were providing services to citizens of the country in 2023.

According to Catcher Predict monitoring, in the market prediction on Polymarket for the event "Japan Women's Open: Katie Bolt vs. Hinano Sakanoue," the "Over" option for the sub-market "Japan Women's Open: Katie Bolt vs. Hinano Sakanoue total game points greater than 22.5" experienced a dramatic fluctuation in winning probability, soaring from 23.5% an hour ago to the current 50% (a fluctuation of 26.5%). Please note the impact of related breaking news.

According to Catcher Predict monitoring, in the predicted market Polymarket for the event "Catania: Sean Cuenin vs Izan Almazan Valiente," the "Over" option in the sub-market "Catania: Sean Cuenin vs Izan Almazan Valiente Match O/U 23.5" experienced a drastic fluctuation in winning probability, plummeting from 99.5% an hour ago to the current 50.5% (a fluctuation of 49%). Please note the impact of related breaking news.

According to Forbes, venture capitalist Alex Lazarow wrote that in the past two years, Stripe, Mastercard, and Circle have acquired American stablecoin infrastructure company Bridge, British BVNK, and Singapore cross-border payment platform Tazapay, respectively, with a total transaction value exceeding $3 billion. These three companies were established between 2020 and 2022, raising a total of approximately $200 million, indicating that stablecoin payment infrastructure is becoming a field where traditional payment giants and cryptocurrency companies are competing to establish a presence.Among them, Stripe announced in 2024 that it would acquire Bridge for slightly over $1 billion; the total value of Mastercard's acquisition of BVNK could reach up to $1.8 billion, including $1.5 billion in base consideration and $300 million in contingent consideration; Circle agreed to acquire Tazapay for $400 million in stock, with the transaction expected to be completed in 2027. The growth in stablecoin adoption, the gradual clarification of regulatory frameworks, and the rising demand for real-time cross-border payments are the main factors driving mergers and acquisitions.Data shows that in 2025, the adjusted transaction volume of stablecoins is expected to grow by 91% year-on-year, reaching $10.9 trillion, close to Visa's $14.2 trillion; the scale of real-world payments is expected to more than double, reaching approximately $390 billion. These transactions reflect that acquirers value not only stablecoin technology but also verified business scale, payment networks, and compliance qualifications.As stablecoin payment infrastructure matures, applications such as dollar accounts, stablecoin payment cards, and cross-border remittances are also emerging, and in the future, more local infrastructure companies similar to Bridge and BVNK may be acquired in various regions around the world.

Tether announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) and the Almaty City Administration (ACA), where the three parties will explore cooperation opportunities in areas such as stablecoin applications, asset tokenization, and decentralized finance.

"On-Chain Detective" ZachXBT stated that he once disguised himself as a client to infiltrate a criminal gang suspected of laundering money for the North Korean-backed hacker organization Lazarus Group, and assisted in freezing funds related to the 2025 Bybit attack incident.ZachXBT indicated that after Bybit was attacked for $1.5 billion in February 2025, he discovered over 15 accounts seeking help with transactions related to the stolen funds in public Telegram and Discord groups. He then contacted a Telegram user using the alias "Jimmy Green" and built trust through multiple transactions.According to his disclosure, on March 6, 2025, he transferred $3.497 million USDC to an Ethereum address for exchanging USDC with TRON chain USDT. The Gas funds for that address trace back to the Bybit attack funds and have been publicly marked as a Bybit attack blacklist address.ZachXBT stated that in subsequent communications, the other party revealed that their team had participated in handling the stolen funds from Bybit and disclosed in advance that the funds would be transferred on chains such as Solana. By matching transaction times, amounts, and on-chain data, he discovered a wallet cluster involving over $12 million of Bybit attack funds, with funding paths including BTC→ETH→SOL→TRON and others, among which approximately 442,000 USDT had been frozen by Tether. The gang also attempted to launder money through Uniswap liquidity pools and low liquidity tokens.In addition, the other party revealed that they had helped other clients handle approximately $3 million in scam proceeds, and ZachXBT tracked the related funds flowing to sanctioned Huione Guarantee-related wallets.ZachXBT disclosed that during this investigation, he initially invested $3.497 million and bore about 5% loss risk for each transaction. The intelligence obtained was promptly provided to relevant investigative agencies and law enforcement. Since 2022, he has assisted in freezing over $75 million related to North Korea-related incidents.

According to Shield's monitoring, NEAR Intents attackers have transferred the stolen funds to Kucoin and bridged them to BTC. The attacker's address has interacted with an address marked as North Korea's LazarusGroup (0x098B7...E2f96).

The government of Kazakhstan is promoting the use of associated gas to power cryptocurrency mining, in order to restore the mining industry affected by power restrictions. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree in July requiring the establishment of mechanisms for enterprises to conduct digital mining using associated gas.Daniyar Mubarakov, head of the Blockchain and Digital Mining Association, stated that the total amount of associated gas in Kazakhstan can be converted into 1.2 to 1.3 terawatt-hours of electricity, sufficient to support medium or large data centers or Bitcoin mines in some oil fields. The Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan estimates that there are up to 60 oil fields in the country producing associated gas. Oil companies can sell waste gas to miners, reducing disposal costs by millions of dollars, while miners can lock in electricity prices for years, reducing dependence on grid power.The government of Kazakhstan is developing a relevant legal framework to clarify the operational rules for enterprises and regulate the market. Gizzat Baitursynov, Deputy Minister of AI and Digital Development of Kazakhstan, stated that this mechanism will increase government tax revenue and improve the environment.

According to Euronews, Kazakhstan is promoting cryptocurrency mining companies to utilize the remaining associated gas from oil fields to build their own power stations, in order to reduce natural gas flaring, alleviate pressure on the national power grid, and increase oil production.Data shows that the country will flare about 300 to 340 million cubic meters of associated gas in 2024, which, if used for power generation, is expected to produce 1.2 to 1.3 terawatt-hours of electricity. Currently, the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan and other departments are formulating the relevant legal framework.

According to on-chain detective Specter, by tracking on-chain fund flows, the North Korean hacker organization Lazarus Group may be the behind-the-scenes attacker of the Bitget theft incident. This incident is linked to the AFX attack that occurred in July this year, which resulted in losses of approximately 24 million dollars and was attributed to TraderTraitor associated with Lazarus Group.The stolen XRP from Bitget, after cross-chain transfer, can be directly linked to the stolen funds in the AFX attack.

According to the Astana Times, Kazakhstan's regulated cryptocurrency market is expected to reach a trading volume of $10.58 billion by 2025, a significant increase from $320 million in 2023, with the number of users rising from 53,000 to 215,000.Meanwhile, Kazakhstan has ranked among the top ten globally in the number of applications for the international Solana hackathon, with over 8,000 people completing training through the Solana ecosystem and more than 2,000 receiving certificates. Additionally, the country has 57 Web3 startups that have received a total of approximately $262,000 in funding and plans to complete the tokenization of real estate and logistics projects worth up to $60 million by the end of 2026, to explore the feasibility of digital assets as a new financing channel for the economy.

According to Kazinform, Timur Suleimenov, the Governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, announced at a government meeting that a national cryptocurrency analysis center will be established based on the central bank's supervision of the SupTech platform to monitor transactions related to digital assets.The center will analyze both fiat and cryptocurrency transaction data, as well as customer, wallet, and transaction information, and will be connected with the National Bank's anti-fraud center. Banks, law enforcement agencies, and licensed digital asset service providers will be allowed to access its verification tools. Previous reports indicated that the scale of digital asset transactions in Kazakhstan has reached 10.6 billion USD.

According to monitoring by Lookonchain, the hacker organization Lazarus Group sold 911 ETH (2.28 million USD) at an average price of 2499 USD in the past 2 hours.

Circle announced that it has signed a final agreement to acquire Tazapay, a B2B cross-border payment infrastructure company headquartered in Singapore. The transaction is expected to be completed in 2027, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, including approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.Tazapay has an annualized payment volume of over $25 billion, more than 60 banking and fintech partners, and local payment channels covering over 100 markets. Approximately 60% of Tazapay's transaction volume includes stablecoins.

Binance founder Zhao Changpeng met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, and old friend Zhaslan Madiyev in Kazakhstan, stating that the local cryptocurrency industry is developing rapidly.It is reported that Zhaslan Madiyev served as the General Manager of Binance Kazakhstan from 2022 to 2024, and was appointed as the "Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry" starting in May 2024, and then promoted to "Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development" in 2025 and 2026.

According to Lookonchain monitoring, the Lazarus Group hackers transferred 244.148 Bitcoins, worth 19.42 million dollars.