National Bank of Kazakhstan Allocates $300M for Crypto Purchases Using Gold and FX Reserves

• Kazakhstan is planning a $300 million crypto allocation funded by gold, FX reserves and confiscated digital assets.
• Officials are exploring Bitcoin taxes and state mining flows to build a sovereign crypto reserve by early 2026.

Kazakhstan’s central bank is considering investing up to $300 million of the country’s gold and foreign-exchange reserves into crypto assets as part of a new state digital asset strategy. Deputy chairman Berik Sholpankulov outlined the idea in parliament, saying authorities are studying how a crypto allocation could sit inside existing reserve portfolios rather than as a separate speculative pool.

At the same time, the plan links to a broader project to build a national cryptocurrency reserve fund valued between $500 million and $1 billion by early 2026. Officials say that the pool would draw on several sources, including seized digital assets, mining revenues and part of the National Fund, and would be managed through structures tied to the Astana International Financial Centre.

Meanwhile, the National Bank’s leadership has stressed that any move into crypto will follow a “state digital asset fund” model, with confiscated coins held as a strategic reserve and any new purchases run under strict oversight. Sholpankulov said the proposal covers both National Fund money and gold and FX reserves, but final decisions will depend on profitability, risk assessments and coordination with new licensing and anti–money laundering rules for crypto service providers.

As previously reported, Kazakhstan is studying a plan to add Bitcoin and other digital assets to its national reserves funded from gold and foreign currency holdings. Senior officials are now openly discussing whether part of these traditional savings should move into crypto as the debate spreads across top financial institutions.

At the same time, the country is shaping a framework for a sovereign crypto reserve, as noted in our earlier post, that would draw on several domestic sources. Authorities typically point to seized digital assets and state-linked crypto mining as core funding channels for such a pool.

In addition, reports say one option under review would let the state collect Bitcoin through taxes or other compulsory payments. That approach would align Kazakhstan with governments that already treat digital assets as strategic holdings rather than only tradable instruments. Officials frame the discussion around how to shield national reserves from external shocks and currency swings.