Why big voices in tech are so hyped about a central Asian country you probably haven't heard of

Tech's biggest leaders are talking about this Central Asian country.

Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images Tech's biggest names are bullish on Kazakhstan as a tech capital.

The country has seen investments from companies like Telegram and Binance.

Kazakhstan is actively courting tech talent with visas and tax reforms.

Astana is more than 6,000 miles from Silicon Valley, but some of tech's biggest names are bullish on the Kazakh capital.

On Sunday, former Coinbase tech chief and Andreessen Horowitz partner Balaji Srinivasan said that his live-in startup community has officially opened in Kazakhstan , in another vote of confidence for the Central Asian country.

"Kazakhstan is a high-tech country that recently ranked #1 in the International Physics Olympiads.

It's full of confident, smart, young people.

And it's now recruiting global talent from around the world," Srinivasan said in an X post on Sunday, announcing the launch.

In August, he reopened Network School, his community for founders, crypto enthusiasts, and digital nomads, in Astana after its previous base in Malaysia was shut down.

Srinivasan has described the school as "Silicon Valley outside Silicon Valley" and said that he wants to build it in a "techno-optimist country" that is affordable, meritocratic, and attractive to global talent.

Srinivasan isn't alone in his enthusiasm for Kazakhstan.

During a visit to Astana last week, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao said he was "particularly impressed" by the scale of Kazakhstan's technology, education, and infrastructure projects.

The crypto exchange signed three agreements with Kazakhstan's government, including exploring a Kazakhstan-based stablecoin and potentially building some Binance regional operations and infrastructure in the country.