There are plans to allow banks and microfinance organizations in Kyrgyzstan to buy and sell cryptocurrency

In Kyrgyzstan, there is a proposal to expand the capabilities of banks and other financial institutions in the cryptocurrency sector. The Ministry of Economy has submitted draft amendments to the Law “On Virtual Assets” for public comment. The public comment period will run until June 10.

The main change is that banks, microfinance organizations, and other companies under the supervision of the National Bank are to be officially authorized to conduct transactions involving the purchase, sale, and exchange of cryptocurrencies.

Currently, Kyrgyz banks are effectively restricted in their work with cryptocurrencies. They may:

• store virtual assets;
• transfer them;
• provide certain financial services related to the issuance of digital assets.

However, they are prohibited from directly buying, selling, or exchanging cryptocurrency.

The new bill lifts this ban. If the amendments are adopted, banks will be able to legally launch cryptocurrency exchange services, work with clients’ digital assets, and integrate crypto transactions into their financial products.

In other words, in the future, cryptocurrency exchange could become a standard banking service, just like currency exchange or money transfers.

The explanatory note to the bill states that the virtual asset market in Kyrgyzstan is growing rapidly, but existing restrictions hinder its full development.

According to the Ministry of Economy:

• in 2023, companies working with virtual assets paid 73.1 million KGS in taxes;
• in 2024—already 227 million KGS;
• in the first 11 months of 2025—over 2.1 billion KGS.

At the same time, the total turnover of virtual assets in the country for the same period in 2025 amounted to 2.63 trillion KGS.

Authorities believe that connecting banks to the crypto market will allow them to:

• bring some transactions out of the shadows;
• increase tax revenues;
• attract foreign investors;
• improve the transparency of transactions;
• integrate cryptocurrencies into the country’s official financial system.

Currently, cryptocurrency transactions in Kyrgyzstan are mainly conducted by specialized exchanges and licensed virtual asset service providers. According to the authorities, the Financial Supervisory Authority has already issued 148 licenses to crypto market participants, of which:

• 140 were issued to virtual asset exchange operators;
• 8 went to crypto platforms;
• and another 10 certificates were issued to mining companies.

However, banks are virtually absent from this system.

The Ministry of Economy believes that this limits the industry’s development and reduces Kyrgyzstan’s investment appeal.

The bill’s authors cite examples from the European Union, Switzerland, Singapore, the U.S., the UAE, and Japan, where banks already work with crypto assets under special regulations.

For example:

• the EU has MiCA regulations in place;
• in Switzerland, banks can work with tokenized assets;
• in Singapore, crypto companies are licensed by the state;
• in the UAE, special crypto zones have been created for working with digital assets.

According to the document, Kyrgyzstan also wants to integrate the crypto market into the traditional financial system.

If the law is passed, the Cabinet of Ministers and the National Bank will be given six months to bring the regulatory framework into compliance with the new rules.