Kazakhstan’s National Bank just formalized a partnership with the world’s largest crypto exchange that could turn the Central Asian nation into a regional digital payments powerhouse. The memorandum of understanding, signed on September 4, puts Binance on a path to apply for a Category 1 non-bank Payment Service Provider license, a credential specifically designed to let digital assets and traditional fiat currencies play nice together.
Deputy Chairman of the National Bank, Binur Zhalenov, signed the agreement as part of a broader push that included three separate MoUs inked the same day. The other two involve cooperation with Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development and the Astana International Financial Centre.
What the license actually does
The Category 1 PSP license enables Binance to build infrastructure for converting between digital assets and fiat currency, processing payments, and facilitating transactions. What it explicitly does not allow is deposit-taking or lending.
The discussions also touched on something potentially more consequential: exploring a local stablecoin. While still in the conversational stage, a Kazakhstan-issued stablecoin could serve as the connective tissue between the country’s fiat system and the broader digital asset ecosystem, particularly for cross-border transactions with neighboring Commonwealth of Independent States nations.
