Kazakhstan shuts down mobile access to 6 major crypto exchanges

Kazakhstan’s Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) said on Oct. 20 that it plans to send court orders to Apple and Google to restrict access to six crypto platforms, including Coinbase.

The move targets app distribution as part of the regulator’s enforcement against unauthorized digital-asset services.

The order concerns services in or to users in the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), a financial jurisdiction in Kazakhstan. AFSA has not confirmed service on the app-store operators or implementation against the six platforms.

The Sept. 18 variation order covers the operators of BingX, Bitcoin.com, Huobi Global (HTX), BitMart, Coinbase and WEEX. AFSA issued the original default judgment on Sept. 15, and the variation removed LBank after its operator reported remedial measures, since AFSA says LBank independently blocked access to its services in Kazakhstan.

How the orders reach crypto app distribution

The restraints cover providing, offering, or marketing digital-asset services without authorization in the AIFC or to users located there. They also bar distributing or making mobile apps available through any platform to provide those unauthorized services.

Apple and Google become bound by the order as if they were parties to the case once notice has been served on them. The order also allows them to seek a change or have it set aside after acknowledging service.

That brings the app-store operators into the enforcement process alongside the platforms themselves. Restrictions on app availability would affect one route users take to access the services, but the order alone does not show what technical measures the stores will take or where they will apply them.

AFSA’s announcement says the orders “will be sent” to the Google Play and Apple App Store operators. For the remaining six platforms, the regulator says it will enforce access restrictions through the injunctions.

The regulator says nine other platforms voluntarily restricted access to their apps in Kazakhstan through both stores, prompting it to withdraw its claims against them. Those voluntary restrictions concern a separate group from the six operators still covered by the orders.

AFSA also says seven platforms said they intend to obtain licenses to operate digital-asset trading facilities. It places the proceedings after warnings to more than 20 platforms in 2025 and court action begun in early 2026.

Coinbase access faced restrictions in Kazakhstan in November 2023. The present plan adds a separate app-distribution enforcement route under the September 2026 orders.

For users of the six platforms, the practical effect now depends on service and implementation, including the geographic settings of any app-store restrictions.