Kazakhstan’s AIFC Court Bars Coinbase and Five Others From Unlicensed Services

The court of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), Kazakhstan’s financial hub, has barred the operators of Coinbase, BingX, Huobi Global (HTX), Bitcoin.com, BitMart and WEEX from offering crypto services there without a licence. The orders were made in September; the centre’s regulator, the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA), announced them on 20 October 2026.

The case matters because it reaches beyond the exchanges to the app stores that distribute them. AFSA says the decision also applies to Google and Apple “in relation to geographically restricting access” to the platforms, which the judgment says is needed to make the ban enforceable.

What did the court order, and when?

The default judgment, dated 15 September 2026 and signed by Justice Sir Stephen Richards, originally covered seven operators, including LBank. A default judgment is one made without a trial, here because the operators did not respond to the claim in time.

The order restrains the operators from “providing, offering or marketing digital asset services on the territory of the Astana International Financial Centre” or to users located there without authorisation. It also bars them from making mobile apps available through any platform for that purpose.

LBank then took its own steps to block access in Kazakhstan, AFSA says. In a variation order dated 18 September, the court removed it from the list, so “the injunctions currently apply to the operators of BingX, Bitcoin.com, Huobi Global (HTX), BitMart, Coinbase and WEEX”, according to AFSA.

The six operators are jointly and severally liable for AFSA’s costs of KZT 1,995,479.95.

Why is the ban limited to the AIFC?

AFSA originally asked for wider relief covering users across Kazakhstan, the judgment shows. The judge narrowed it because the country’s digital assets law was amended with effect from 1 May 2026, giving the wider licensing role to the National Bank of Kazakhstan.

That leaves AFSA responsible for licences within the AIFC. The judge said AFSA could come back with “a properly reasoned basis for an injunction in wider terms”. AFSA says it has worked with the National Bank on this area since May 2026.

In the judgment, the court said unauthorised crypto services undermine “the integrity of the AIFC regulatory framework” and create unfair competition for licensed firms that bear the costs of anti-money-laundering checks and supervision.

What happens with Google and Apple?

The judgment says Google and Apple, as operators of Google Play and the App Store, are bound by the order “as if they had been parties to the claim” once they are served. It notes that the claim itself argued any restraint would be “practically unenforceable” without their cooperation.

But the judge declined, for now, to order the two companies directly to remove the apps, because they were not parties in default and had not had a chance to respond. He said “the sensible course in the first instance” was for AFSA to talk to them about specific steps. AFSA says the orders “will be sent” to the two app-store operators “to restrict access to these services”.

How did the platforms respond?

AFSA chief executive Evgeniya Bogdanova said the regulator sent written warnings to “more than 20 crypto platforms” in 2025. According to AFSA, nine then restricted access to their apps in Kazakhstan and claims against them were withdrawn, while seven more said they intended to apply for an AFSA licence.

Cointelegraph reported that its requests for comment from BingX, Coinbase and Huobi Global were not immediately answered.

Our read

This is TSN’s analysis. The order is narrower than headlines may suggest: it covers the AIFC, not all of Kazakhstan, and the app-store piece depends on talks rather than a direct court command. Still, binding Google and Apple to a crypto injunction is a practical lever that other regulators facing offshore exchanges will watch closely.

How we sourced this

The court orders are dated 15 and 18 September 2026; only AFSA’s announcement is new. AFSA’s page carries no date, so the 20 October date comes from Cointelegraph’s report that AFSA made the announcement on Tuesday. AFSA says claims were withdrawn against nine platforms, while the 15 September judgment records discontinuance notices served on “a total of 12 operators”; neither document explains the difference.

Sources

1. AFSA: “AIFC Court Issues Injunctions Against Operators of Several Unlicensed Crypto Platforms”
2. AIFC Court: Astana Financial Services Authority v Persons Unknown, Default Judgment and Order, case AIFC-C/CFI/2026/0010 (PDF) (15 September 2026)
3. AIFC Court: Astana Financial Services Authority v Persons Unknown, Variation Order (PDF) (18 September 2026)
4. Cointelegraph: “Kazakhstan court orders curbs on Coinbase, BingX and four others” (Robert Lakin, 20 October 2026)

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