Private key
私钥 · жеке кілт
The secret data controlling the assets at an address. Whoever holds it can move the funds, so it is equivalent to the money itself. No legitimate service ever needs you to hand it over.
Seed phrase / recovery phrase
助记词 · recovery phrase · қалпына келтіру тіркесі
Usually twelve or twenty-four English words, a readable backup of the private key. Lose it and the funds are gone; leak it and they are taken. Write it on paper and keep it offline — do not photograph it.
Address
地址 · мекенжай
The string used to receive funds, safe to share. It is not a private key — giving out an address is fine, giving out a key is not.
Network / chain
公链 / 网络 · network · желі / тізбек
The chain a transfer travels on. The same token on different chains is not interchangeable, and choosing wrong can mean the funds are unrecoverable. Confirm with the receiving side before withdrawing.
Stablecoin
稳定币 · stablecoin · тұрақты монета
A token pegged to a fiat value, most commonly the dollar. It is not a dollar — it is the issuer's liability, and its value depends on the issuer's ability to redeem.
Cryptocurrency
加密货币 · криптовалюта
General term for digital assets circulating on blockchains. In Kazakhstan's regulatory texts the corresponding term is usually "digital asset".
Blockchain
区块链 · блокчейн
A public, tamper-evident ledger. Note that it is public — every historical transaction of an address is visible to anyone, which makes it more traceable than a bank transfer, not less.
Exchange
交易所 · биржа
A venue matching buyers and sellers. Assets in a centralised exchange account are a record of what the platform owes you, with the keys held by the platform.
KYC / identity verification
身份认证 · верификация · тексеру
Know Your Customer — the process by which a platform verifies who you are. Most functionality opens only after it completes.
AML
反洗钱 · AML
Anti-money laundering. The basis on which banks and platforms monitor unusual money movement, and the reason accounts get asked to explain source of funds.
P2P / peer-to-peer
点对点交易 · P2P
Trading directly with another user, with the platform providing escrow and matching. It is the most common local fiat route and also where freeze risk concentrates.
Custody
托管 · custody · кастодиан
A third party holding assets for you. An exchange account is a form of custody. The opposite is self-custody, where you hold the keys.
Self-custody wallet
自托管钱包 · non-custodial · өзің сақтайтын әмиян
A wallet whose private key you control. Maximum autonomy, and no one to fall back on if you get it wrong.
Hardware wallet
硬件钱包 · hardware wallet · аппараттық әмиян
A dedicated device that keeps the private key off any connected computer, so malware cannot obtain it. It cannot stop you signing a malicious transaction.
Fee
手续费 · комиссия
Two different things worth separating: the platform's trading fee, and the network fee for an on-chain transfer. The latter is largely unrelated to the amount and depends on congestion.
Deposit / withdraw
充值 / 提现 · deposit / withdraw · ақша салу / шығару
Moving funds into and out of a platform. Kazakh interfaces generally use borrowed terms for these; the icons are usually the fastest way to find them.
Tenge
坚戈 · KZT · теңге
Kazakhstan's currency, shown as KZT on exchange interfaces.
Two-factor authentication
双重验证 · 2FA · екі факторлы аутентификация
A rotating code required in addition to a password. Use an authenticator app rather than SMS — SMS fails while roaming and after a number change.
Withdrawal address whitelist
提现白名单 · whitelist · ақ тізім
Once enabled, funds can only go to addresses added in advance. One of the most effective anti-theft settings, and off by default — you have to turn it on.
Depeg
脱锚 · depeg · белгіленген деңгейден ауытқу
A stablecoin trading noticeably away from its peg. Brief episodes have happened many times; how serious it is turns on whether redemption at par still works, not on how far the price fell.
Licence
牌照 / 许可 · лицензия
Authorisation granted to a platform by a regulator. What counts is whether the entry exists in the public register, not what the platform's own site says.
Digital asset
数字资产 · цифровой актив
The formal term used in Kazakhstan's legal texts. Searching official documents with this term works better than searching for "cryptocurrency".
No matching entries. Try a different word.
How to use it, and how the Kazakh column was handled
What problem it solves
Using crypto in Kazakhstan means dealing with three languages at once: exchange interfaces are mostly English, banks, legislation and news are in Kazakh or Russian, and a good share of readers here think in Chinese. Translating terms between the three is where people stall — not because the concepts are hard, but because it is not obvious which word on the screen maps to which idea in your head.
How to search
Type a fragment in any of the three; English, Chinese and Cyrillic all match, and matching runs across the whole entry including the explanation. So you can also search a concept — "freeze", "chain", "fee" — and it will surface the related entries together.
Where the Kazakh column comes from
Worth stating plainly to avoid misleading anyone: a substantial part of Kazakh crypto vocabulary consists of borrowings (криптовалюта, блокчейн, лицензия come straight from the international roots), while some terms are native (кілт is "key", мекенжай is "address"). What is listed here are the commonly encountered forms, and it is not an authoritative terminology standard — Kazakh terminology in this field is still settling and usage varies between sources.
Only some entries carry a Kazakh column, because for the rest I do not have enough confidence to offer a standard rendering, and leaving a gap is better than inventing one. When the Kazakh edition of this site is published, that side will be handled in native writing and will be more complete than this table.
Why some entries carry a warning
Because a few concepts mislead if you only give the definition. "Blockchain" is the clearest case: define it as a tamper-evident ledger and stop, and a reader can easily conclude the opposite of the truth — that using it is more private. That misconception can be expensive, so those entries carry an extra line.
Data source
Entries are written by the site's editorial team. The page calls no external service and makes no requests once loaded; filtering happens entirely in your browser. Definitions aim to be accurate but are not legal or investment advice, and for anything touching legislation the current official text governs.
Related
- What USDT actually is — stablecoins, depegging and choosing a network
- Holding your own crypto — keys, seed phrases, hardware wallets
- Signup and KYC — where the verification terms come up in practice
- Tenge / USDT / yuan cross rates