International Monetary Fund advises Kyrgyzstan to step up monitoring of cryptocurrency services
BISHKEK. April 10 (Interfax) - Kyrgyzstan must monitor the risks associated with rapidly developing activity involving crypto assets and cross-border financial flows in the country, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a press release following an IMF mission visit to the country as part of the 2025 Article IV consultation.
The IMF said that Kyrgyzstan had reinforced regulations around crypto assets, but still needed to continue work on improving the effectiveness of steps to fight money laundering and the funding of terrorism ahead of the assessment by the Eurasian group on combating money laundering and financing of terrorism (EAG). This also relates to the necessity of introducing a register of beneficiary owners and assessing the risks associated with virtual assets.
The mission highlighted the importance of stepping up the supervision and management of virtual asset service providers, ensuring compliance with international prudential standards, providing reliable guarantees for financial stability, protecting consumers, lowering the risks of illegal financing and implementing trade monitoring measures.
"Growing exposure to crypto asset activities and cross-border trade and financial flows could pose new risks [for Kyrgyzstan]. At the same time, the overall favorable economic environment provides a window of opportunity to strengthen policy buffers, recalibrate the macroeconomic policy mix, and accelerate structural reforms to support sustainable, private-sector-led growth," the IMF said.
The IMF mission worked in Kyrgyzstan from March 18 through April 1.
Kyrgyzstan's cryptocurrency market began to develop actively in 2025. President Sadyr Japarov held several meetings with Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, following which the national stablecoin USDKG was launched and amendments to virtual asset legislation adopted. By the end of 2025, virtual asset service providers in Kyrgyzstan had a total turnover of 2.7 trillion som, triple the total from 2024. A total of 2.1 million transactions were conducted in 2025. while local crypto exchanges had a turnover of 157.2 billion som, with 23,300 transactions completed. A year earlier, crypto exchanges had a turnover of 31.6 billion som and 1,600 transactions.
According to Kyrgyzstan's State Service for Regulation and Supervision of the Financial Market, there have been six virtual asset issues registered in the country so far, with a total volume exceeding 3 billion som.
