Kazakhstan allocates US$ 350 million of its international reserves to cryptocurrency-related assets

The National Bank of Kazakhstan announced the formation of a portfolio of up to US$ 350 million, The Bank's interest rate policy will be based on the amount of money extracted from its gold and foreign exchange reserves, earmarked for investments in crypto-assets and related instruments. The announcement was made by Bank President and former Economy Minister Timur Suleimanov at a press conference on interest rate policy on Friday.

The scope of the portfolio goes beyond just buying cryptocurrencies. Suleimanov said that the bank is drawing up the list of eligible instruments, including shares in high-tech companies linked to the world of crypto and digital assets, index funds and other products with price dynamics similar to those of crypto-assets.

The central bank's vice-president, Aliya Moldabekova, added that investments should begin between April and May, and that the initial focus is on selecting companies involved in the cryptocurrency infrastructure - not necessarily in the direct purchase of digital currencies.

“We're not talking about a big investment in cryptocurrencies. We are selecting companies that work with digital assets,” she said.

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To put the size of the allocation into context: on February 1st, the central bank's international reserves amounted to US$ 69.4 billion, and the National Fund of Kazakhstan accumulated other US$ 65.2 billion - which makes the crypto portfolio equivalent to around 0.5% of the country's total reserves.

The movement accompanies a global trend of sovereigns seeking exposure to the sector. Kazakhstan already has a relevant history in the market: after the exodus of miners from China in 2021, the country was among the three largest Bitcoin miners in the world.