Kazakhstan approved a formal mechanism to build a national strategic crypto reserve funded by its bitcoin mining industry, following two government acts signed within eleven days of each other in July 2026. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev set the framework with a presidential decree on July 7; the operational rules arrived via Government Resolution No. 638, cleared on July 18 and published in the PRG.kz legal database.
The scheme works like this: miners who want in sign 10-year electricity contracts with listed power producers, getting guaranteed quotas at capped tariffs. The first approved source is the Ekibastuz GRES-1 coal plant, allocated 300 megawatts. To qualify, an operation must run a data center of at least 150 megawatts, with rigs hitting a minimum of 150 terahashes per second each.
10% of mined coins go to the state, every month
The transfer formula is precise. After deducting electricity and grid service costs, miners hand over 10% of their mined digital assets each month to the state-linked Astana Hub fund. That fund then passes the coins to the National Investment Corporation of the National Bank, which holds and manages them inside the "national strategic crypto reserve." As local outlets reported, the reserve is not a simple cold-storage wallet: the resolution explicitly authorises it to invest in digital assets, in derivatives tied to those assets, and in shares of companies that build or invest in crypto.
The structure gives Astana a diversified exposure to the sector rather than a pile of raw bitcoin, with the National Bank's investment arm running the portfolio. Kazakhstan had already floated the idea of a national reserve built partly on seized assets and state-mined coins, and its central bank had moved toward allocating up to $350 million into crypto-linked funds. The new resolution turns those ambitions into binding rules.
The broader context matters. The United States created its own strategic bitcoin reserve last year from forfeited coins, and other governments have been studying similar moves ever since. Kazakhstan's approach differs: rather than relying on confiscations, Astana is routing its existing industrial mining base directly into state accumulation. The country ranks fifth globally among bitcoin mining hubs, making cheap coal-powered electricity a genuine policy asset.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.
