Kazakhstan’s Central Bank quietly joins the Crypto reserve club

Kazakhstan’s central bank will reallocate up to $350 million from its gold and foreign‑exchange reserves into crypto‑linked assets, beginning around April–May. Rather than buying Bitcoin directly, the National Bank plans to invest through funds, index products and equities tied to digital‑asset infrastructure, gaining indirect exposure to Bitcoin and Ethereum via intermediated vehicles.

The move converts a slice of the roughly $69 billion stockpile of traditional reserves into higher‑beta digital risk and trims exposure to assets that can be politicized or targeted by sanctions. Commentators frame the change as a hedge against the kind of reserve freezes Russia faced in 2022.

By keeping the allocation small, the central bank preserves plausible deniability while signaling to miners, exchanges and infrastructure providers that Astana wants to be a regional hub.

Kazakhstan, Astana

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