Cryptoupdated 43m ago2 min read
Astana International Financial Centre Court Orders Blocking of Coinbase and HTX Apps
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AIFC Court bars six platforms from offering unlicensed digital-asset services in its jurisdiction. Access restrictions extended to Google and Apple app stores within Kazakhstan for these platforms.
AIFC blocks six exchanges
Kazakhstan’s Astana International Financial Centre court ordered the blocking of foreign cryptocurrency platform apps in the country’s app stores, including Coinbase and HTX.
The Astana Financial Services Authority said the Sept. 15 order accepted an AFSA claim and required operators to halt service provision and advertising until they obtain an AIFC licence.
AFSA Chief Executive Officer Evgeniya Bogdanova said the decision was driven by supervisory and enforcement efforts, and the court’s reasoning tied unlicensed operations to undermining the AIFC regulatory framework.
The restrictions targeted platforms including Coinbase, BingX, Bitcoin.com, Huobi Global (HTX), BitMart, LBank and WEEX, while the court’s scope was tied to the AIFC rather than a nationwide ban.
App stores and territorial limits
AFSA said the court orders applied strictly to users inside the AIFC and did not extend to the rest of Kazakhstan. CoinDesk said the AIFC Court prohibited Coinbase and five other cryptocurrency exchanges from offering unlicensed services within the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), and it said the orders also prohibited distributing mobile apps for those services within the centre.
The court linked Google and Apple as app store operators, and it declined to issue a separate injunction against them while noting AFSA should first discuss steps with the companies. AFSA said LBank was removed after its operator blocked access in Kazakhstan, and the remaining platforms became subject to enforcement of the court order.
Licensing push and safeguards
AFSA said users of unlicensed platforms lack safeguards required of licensed firms, including asset protection, disclosure, complaint handling and dispute resolution. Evgeniya Bogdanova said the court decision followed AFSA’s supervision and enforcement teams addressing activities of unlicensed crypto platforms that were advertising without authorization and offering digital asset-related services without required permission.
AFSA said it warned more than 20 platforms about AIFC rules in 2025, and it said nine voluntarily restricted app access in Kazakhstan while seven expressed intent to obtain licenses. AFSA said it coordinated since May 2026 with the National Bank of Kazakhstan, which supervises digital asset operators outside the AIFC, and it said the next key question was whether Apple and Google comply with the order and whether platforms obtain licences or block local access.