Kazakhstan is moving ahead with plans for a national strategic crypto reserve, with part of the funding stream set to come from the country’s bitcoin miners. The proposal is part of a two-step push by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to bring Kazakhstan’s large mining sector into a regulated system under state supervision.
A presidential decree signed on July 7 laid out the policy frame. A government resolution approved on July 18 supplied the operating mechanism. Government Resolution No. 638, published in the PRG.kz legal database, cleared the rules for what officials call strategic digital mining. Read together, the two measures are designed to route mining output and crypto trading through domestic Kazakh infrastructure, while giving the state a share of mined coins for a sovereign reserve.
How the mining program feeds the reserve
The reserve sits at the center of the new structure. Under the July 18 resolution, Kazakhstan created a strategic digital mining program in which miners can receive electricity quotas at capped tariffs on 10-year contracts from listed power producers. In return, they must surrender part of what they mine.
According to local reporting cited by Bitcoin Magazine, the transfer formula is set at 10% of mined digital assets after electricity costs and grid-service costs are deducted. The payment is made each month to the state-linked Astana Hub fund. That fund then passes the coins to the National Investment Corporation of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, which will manage them inside a national strategic crypto reserve.
The first approved power source is the Ekibastuz GRES-1 coal plant, with a 300-megawatt quota. To qualify, a miner must operate a data center of at least 150 megawatts, and the mining rigs must each exceed 150 terahashes per second. The resolution lists other conditions as well.
The reserve can hold more than coins
The resolution defines the reserve as a vehicle that can invest in digital assets, derivatives linked to those assets, and shares of companies that build or invest in crypto. That means the structure is not limited to direct coin holdings. It gives the state a broader range of exposure to the sector, with the National Bank’s investment arm in charge of management.
Bitcoin Magazine said the design turns Kazakhstan’s low-cost power base and established mining footprint into a channel for state accumulation. It also noted that the approach resembles reserve strategies that have been discussed or adopted by other governments.
The report added that Kazakhstan had previously floated a $1 billion crypto reserve built in part on seized assets and state-mined coins. Its central bank had also moved to invest up to $350 million in crypto-linked funds. In the United States, a strategic bitcoin reserve was established last year from forfeited coins, and other states have weighed similar models.
Kazakhstan remains a major mining hub
Kazakhstan is still one of the world’s largest bitcoin mining hubs. In the Cambridge Digital Mining Industry Report released in April 2025, the country ranked fifth by mining activity. That position was built on cheap coal-fired power, which drew miners after China’s 2021 ban on mining, although Kazakhstan later tightened mining rules as pressure on the power grid increased.
The new program reads as an attempt to use that installed base rather than simply restrain it. The July 7 decree also directs the government to use associated petroleum gas, natural gas, and renewable power output for mining.
The decree goes beyond mining
The July 7 decree reaches into other parts of the digital-asset system. It creates a Committee on Digital Assets and Payment Systems under the National Bank. It also orders work on tokenization platforms, exchange and custody services, and crypto-fiat channels tied to the financial system.
The decree calls for stablecoins to be used in cross-border trade settlements for exports and imports. It also targets tokenized government securities by the end of 2026 and sets out rules meant to keep customer assets separate from the estate of a bankrupt provider.
To bring more activity onshore, the decree includes a tax measure that would exempt individuals from personal income tax on crypto gains earned through Kazakh providers from the start of 2026 through the end of 2028. It also offers a disclosure window for holders of coins acquired or mined in the past if those assets are moved into regulated infrastructure.
Kazakhstan also plans to establish a National Cryptocurrency Analysis Center by mid-2027 to track transactions and flag illicit schemes. A review of DeFi platforms is also part of the program.
This report first appeared in Bitcoin Magazine and was written by Micah Zimmerman.