Kazakhstan Plans $300 Million Crypto Reserve

Kazakhstan’s central bank is weighing a plan to invest up to $300 million in cryptocurrency assets.

On November 28, Timur Suleimenov, chairman of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, said the bank could allocate funds from the National Fund and its foreign-exchange reserves into crypto.

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Kazakhstan’s Central Bank Weighs Timing for Crypto Plan

However, he emphasized that the full amount may not be used.

“In the first stage, we’ll be managing gold and foreign exchange reserves. This is the same money that needs to be managed. Some of it is in gold, some in securities. Within this portfolio, a separate portfolio has already been created, focusing on investments in high-tech stocks and other financial instruments related to digital financial assets. The amounts are up to $300 million. This doesn’t mean we’ve just invested $300 million; we might limit ourselves to $50 million, $100 million, or $250 million,” he reportedly said.

Meanwhile, he said the recent pullback across digital asset markets has made the timing of any allocation less certain. Indeed, Bitcoin price has declined by more than 17% during the past month amid broader market volatility.

Considering this, he stated that the central bank intends to wait for conditions to stabilize before committing funds to the industry.

“We won’t make any decisions without thorough analysis. We’re analyzing. We won’t rush these decisions until good investment opportunities emerge. After the current decline in all digital, financial, and crypto assets, we need to let the dust settle before making investment decisions,” He explained

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The initiative forms part of a broader expansion of the central bank’s foreign-exchange portfolio.

The NBK plans to diversify its holdings, which currently rely heavily on gold and securities, by adding high-tech stocks and financial instruments linked to digital assets.

Suleimenov said the investment would be sourced from the bank’s gold and foreign-exchange reserves rather than the National Fund.

Meanwhile, the deliberations come nearly three months after Tokayev instructed the creation of a strategic state reserve for digital assets. The Presidential Press Service said the reserve should focus on cryptocurrency markets given “modern realities.”

Since then, Kazakhstan has entered the digital asset reserve space through its Alem Crypto Fund. The country, through a partnership with Binance, has purchased BNB.

Kazakhstan’s consideration aligns with a broader shift by some sovereign institutions, including that of the United States, toward testing or accumulating digital assets.

Earlier this month, the Czech National Bank acquired $1 million worth of digital assets for a test portfolio, including Bitcoin and an unnamed stablecoin.

Taken together, these moves indicate that governments are increasingly viewing digital assets as a viable tool for reserve diversification.