Kazakhstan has listed Central Asia’s first spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund as the capital Astana pushes its AIFC financial centre to become a regional hub for digital assets.
Kazakhstan Introduces Central Asia’s First Spot Bitcoin ETF
13 August 2025 - 13:23 CEST
Kazakh investment management firm Fonte Capital’s Fonte Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund OEIC (BETF) is quoted in US dollars on the Astana International Exchange (AIX) and begins trading on Wednesday, 13 August. Each share is physically backed by Bitcoin held with custodian BitGo Trust. The news was first reported by Jinse Finance.
BETF falls under the AIFC’s rules and the oversight of the Astana Financial Services Authority, offering on-exchange exposure to Bitcoin without the operational burden of wallets and private keys. The product is open to domestic and foreign retail and institutional investors via AIX member brokers.
The launch follows China’s 2021 crackdown on crypto transactions and mining, which pushed miners into Kazakhstan and briefly made it one of the world’s largest Bitcoin-mining centres before the industry contracted under new rules and energy constraints. The country most recently ranked 57th out of 151 in Chainalysis’s global crypto adoption index.
BETF joins a growing roster of spot Bitcoin ETFs worldwide, expanding investor access in a region where listed crypto products remain scarce. By joining the US, Europe and Hong Kong in permitting such funds, Kazakhstan is proving its ambition to become the region’s leading market for digital assets.
