Kazakhstan’s National Bank is evaluating several models for integrating confiscated cryptocurrency into the country’s financial system, including the possible creation of a National Strategic Cryptocurrency Reserve.
In a statement, the central bank said it is working with other government agencies on arrangements for seizing, confiscating, storing and managing digital assets obtained through criminal activity. The proposal also calls for the Central Securities Depository (CSD) to establish a cryptocurrency custody service.
State crypto custodian
If implemented, the plan would effectively make the CSD the government’s official crypto custodian, responsible for safeguarding wallets containing confiscated assets such as Bitcoin, Ether and stablecoins while protecting them from cyberattacks and the loss of access credentials.
The Prosecutor General’s Office also confirmed that the government is working on the creation of a national cryptocurrency reserve.
Police already use official crypto wallets
Although the national crypto reserve is still under development, Kazakhstan’s law enforcement agencies have already established procedures for confiscating digital assets.
In comments provided to Kursiv.media, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said investigators already have official cryptocurrency wallets for receiving seized assets.
«The seizure and transfer of cryptocurrency assets to an official cryptocurrency wallet is carried out based on the procedural decision of the official conducting the pretrial investigation,» the ministry’s press service said.
Finance Ministry oversees confiscated assets
Once a court orders confiscation, responsibility for valuing, storing and ultimately selling the digital assets — converting them into Kazakhstan’s national currency, the tenge — falls to the State Property and Privatization Committee under the Ministry of Finance.
Value of seized cryptocurrency
While government agencies have described the technical process for handling confiscated cryptocurrency, they have not disclosed the scale of the seizures.
None of the agencies contacted was able to provide statistics on the total value or amount of digital assets confiscated between 2023 and 2026.
Instead, responsibility for the data was repeatedly referred from one institution to another. The National Bank said it does not maintain records of seized cryptocurrency and directed inquiries to law enforcement agencies. The Ministry of Internal Affairs said the statistics are maintained by the Committee on Legal Statistics and Special Records of the Prosecutor General’s Office. In turn, the Prosecutor General’s Office advised requesting the information from the National Bank and the Ministry of Finance, leaving the total amount of confiscated cryptocurrency undisclosed.
