Kazakhstan has formed a state-supported crypto reserve in collaboration with Binance, marking the nation’s latest venture into digital assets.
The first digital asset in the fund’s portfolio is BNB (BNB), the utility token used for transactions, fees, and governance on Binance’s blockchain, as announced on the Kazakhstan government’s website.
The announcement didn’t specify how much BNB was purchased to establish the fund, nor did it provide details on potential future crypto investments.
The fund, named Alem Crypto Fund, was created by the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development and is managed by Qazaqstan Venture Group under the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC).
“The fund aims to make long-term investments in digital assets and to establish strategic reserves,” the announcement states.
Binance has been a close ally of the Kazakhstan government since 2022, when its former CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, signed a memorandum of understanding with Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Digital Development to assist in the development of the country’s crypto regulatory framework.
This announcement follows less than a week after Kazakhstan introduced its own tenge-backed stablecoin, KZTE, on the Solana network in partnership with Mastercard, Intebix, and Eurasian Bank.
Related: The proposed US Bitcoin strategic reserve, explained
Kazakhstan continues to advance its crypto policies
Kazakhstan, a Central Asian nation with approximately 20 million inhabitants, has long been a crucial hub for crypto mining. In 2021, it ranked second globally by Bitcoin hashrate — the total computing power used by miners to secure the network and process transactions.
In 2024, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev urged regulators to create a more transparent legal framework surrounding digital assets after 36 unlicensed exchanges were closed in the country.
In May 2025, the country revealed plans for “CryptoCity,” a pilot zone that will permit crypto payments. Earlier this month, Tokayev called for a strategic crypto reserve and a “fully-fledged ecosystem of digital assets,” with legislation expected before 2026.
This announcement came a few months after a June report from Cointelegraph indicated that the National Bank of Kazakhstan was contemplating a state-run crypto reserve funded by seized assets and state mining revenues.
Although the Alem Crypto Fund is not a central bank reserve, it is state-supported, underscoring a growing trend of countries considering the addition of Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto to their national treasuries.
In 2021, El Salvador became the first nation to establish an official Bitcoin reserve and adopted BTC as legal tender that same year.
Reports indicate that Bhutan, a small Himalayan nation, began accumulating Bitcoin through state-backed mining operations as early as 2019.
Recently, Brazil and Indonesia have been exploring avenues to create national strategic digital asset reserves.
Magazine: Pakistan will deploy Bitcoin reserve in DeFi for yield, says Bilal Bin Saqib
