Kazakhstan's ITS 2025 results: $14 bln trading volume, 70x YoY growth, 18 brokers and 1.2 mln investors on platform
The Kazakhstan-based international trading platform ITS finished 2025 with record results as its total trading volume in the securities market surpassed $14 billion. That’s a 70-fold increase over the previous year.
The number of investors who have received access to ITS trading exceeded 1.2 million. The average monthly turnover consistently surpassed $1 billion since March, with a record high of more than $1.8 billion in October. The average daily trading volume is close to $80 million, the value of client assets held in the ITS CSD depository is over $4 billion, and the number of instruments available to investors exceeded 3,200.
"In the two and a half years since ITS was established, we've rewritten the rules of the game for investors by creating a unique ecosystem of financial products. Today, investors can easily buy shares in global giants like Google and NVIDIA at 1% of the cost through Single Stock ETFs, access IPO allocations before they start trading in New York, and earn returns on our unique indexes that outperform the S&P 500," said Chingiz Kanapyanov, ITS CEO.
“In 2026, our focus will be on scaling and innovation. We will continue to bring in new participants, including brokers from other countries. We will keep on expanding our product line to give investors access to instruments that no one else in the region currently offers,” Kanapyanov added.
The increase in trading volumes in 2025 was a result of the implementation of an ITS strategy to create a comprehensive financial infrastructure within the AIFC, including a trading system, clearing with a central counterparty, and a central depository. With the AIFC’s support, the platform operates under English law, facilitating the attraction of international participants and the development of partnerships with leading global financial institutions.
Here’s how these events unfolded:
January-February: trading volume growth and ETF launch
- Launch of ETF trading on the ITS Shariah (ITSS) index – the first exchange-traded fund in Central Asia that complies with Islamic finance standards.
- ITSS fund shares rose by 4.2% in their first month of trading, demonstrating high investor interest in Islamic financial instruments.
- Volume of securities trading on ITS reached a record $670 million during January 2025.
March: trading volume growth
- Monthly trading volume exceeded $1 billion for the first time.
- Launch of repo transactions with the central counterparty (USD, KZT, U.S. Treasuries, local bonds and shares in Kazakhstan’s top companies); the average daily repo volume amounted to 41 billion tenge.
April: boosting international ties
- ITS joined the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) as a full member of the organisation, which unites leading global financial institutions.
May: strategic partnerships
- Signing of a memorandum with the Zakat Fund under the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Kazakhstan.
- QazPost, Kazakhstan's national postal operator, and Bank CenterCredit, one of the country's largest banks, received trading participant status.
- ITS joined the Compliance & Business Ethics Association.
June: unique opportunities
- Trading volume reached $1.4 billion.
- European investment company Roemer Capital received trading participant status.
- Pre-market trading launch – allowing investors to buy IPO shares before they start trading in the U.S.
July-August: expansion of accessible investment instruments
- 55+ new stocks and ETFs added, with the total number of available instruments exceeding 3,200.
September: ITS Ideas conference and social responsibility
- Second annual ITS Ideas conference was held as part of Astana Finance Days.
- At the conference, an idea arose to launch a professional community, ITS Connect, as an open platform for the exchange of opinions between journalists, bloggers and market participants.
- ITS donated a portion of the dividend income from the ITS Shariah ETF to the Zakat Fund.
- Launch of the first non-dividend Single Stock ETFs – instruments that enable the purchase of expensive shares for just 1% of their cost.
Record-breaking October
- Record-high trading volume of $1.8 billion.
- Kazakhstani N1Broker received trading participant status.
- Returns of ITS World ETF surpassed the 30% mark, exceeding those of SPY (S&P 500 ETF) nearly two-fold.
November: new investment products and partners
- Launch of ITS Dollar Liquidity (ITSD), with a risk-free USD yield higher than that of bank deposits.
- Launch of the first dividend Single Stock ETFs.
- European broker DeltaStock and Kazakhstani Eurasian Capital received trading participant status.
December and year-end results
- Total trading volume in the securities market: $14+ billion.
- 18 trading participants from six countries (Kazakhstan, Armenia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Oman, South Africa).
- ITS World Index grew by 25.6%.
- ITS Shariah Index increased by 23.6%.
- For comparison, the S&P 500 added 16.4% in 2025.
About ITS
ITS is an international liquidity hub. Central to ITS’s business model are the principles of best execution and smart order routing technology. These principles enable investors to execute securities transactions at the best prices available on the global financial market, regardless of the transaction volume. This technology ensures that the liquidity for foreign securities on ITS matches that of leading international platforms where these securities are traded.
ITS’s direct clients include professional securities market participants from Kazakhstan and other countries, such as financial intermediaries who are accredited and directly registered at the AIFC. Investors, both private individuals and legal entities, access trading through these financial intermediaries, such as brokers and banks.
ITS Press Service