Freedom Holding is targeting the global market

Freedom Holding has undergone a remarkable transformation in just a few years. When the company went public on the Nasdaq in 2019, it was primarily known as a Kazakh brokerage firm—the first in the country to be listed on a U.S. stock exchange. Today, Freedom presents itself as a fintech platform with a market capitalization of $9.6 billion and locations in Central Asia, Europe, the U.S., and the Middle East. The acquisition of a Turkish bank, ongoing discussions with regulatory authorities in Georgia and Europe, and CEO Timur Turlov’s openly stated global ambitions demonstrate that expansion plans are increasingly turning into concrete steps.

The financial results also underscore this development. Since its IPO, the stock price has increased more than tenfold and has risen by more than 20 percent this year alone to $157.27. In the quarter ending December 31, the group generated revenue of $628.6 million. In the first nine months, revenue totaled $1.69 billion, while net income reached $76.2 million. Total assets rose by 25 percent to $12.38 billion, with shareholders’ equity exceeding $1.3 billion. The shareholder base includes names such as BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan. S&P Global Ratings rates the company B- with a stable outlook.

Kazakhstan remains the home market. However, Freedom’s financial strength and technological model are now clearly geared toward international expansion.

From Broker to Digital Ecosystem

The foundation for this rise lies in Kazakhstan. There, Freedom has quickly built a digital ecosystem that goes far beyond the traditional brokerage business. Two years ago, the group’s super-app had around half a million users. Today, there are 5.2 million—more than a quarter of the country’s total population. In total, the ecosystem now encompasses over 11 million customers.

The app is the key driver of growth. It was launched in April 2024 and is now one of the most downloaded apps in Kazakhstan. It bundles banking services, investments, travel, ticket purchases, and loyalty programs into a single user interface. For Freedom, it has long been more than just a product—it is the most important distribution channel for the entire integrated financial offering.

The platform’s bonus program is particularly striking. Cashback is automatically converted into fractions of Freedom Holding shares. This gives customers a direct stake in the company. For Turlov, this is more than just a marketing tool. He describes it as a form of shared value creation: as the company grows, so does the value of its users’ equity stakes.

Freedom is also growing rapidly in other areas. In the travel business, the group was able to increase its market share for domestic flights from about 10 percent to 25 to 30 percent in less than two years.

This growth was achieved despite the dominant market position of Kaspi, Kazakhstan’s leading payment service provider. According to its own figures, Freedom gained around 15 percent market share within a year. For Turlov, this is proof that even in a highly concentrated market, new competitors can succeed if they build a compelling ecosystem.

However, this expansion comes at a cost. Personnel expenses rose by 43.4 percent year-over-year to 42.3 billion tenge. This increase is driven by new hires, significant technology investments, and the expansion of additional capacity. Freedom is now collaborating with Nvidia and OpenAI and operates a development center in Cyprus with 500 employees, which is intended to further expand the group’s digital infrastructure. Further acquisitions are planned, although the company has not yet provided any details.

Central Asia as a Test Bed

Kazakhstan remains the center of the business, but Freedom is now gradually expanding its model to other markets in the region. The clearest example is Tajikistan. There, the group received a banking license in the fall of 2024 and, according to its own account, launched the country’s first fully digital bank within a year. Freedom now offers credit cards, mortgages, and other consumer services there via its super-app model.

The company is also expanding its presence in other Central Asian countries. In Kyrgyzstan, Freedom opened a brokerage firm in Bishkek. In Uzbekistan, the group is already among the larger providers in the retail securities business. Whether comprehensive digital banking services will follow there soon is still under review.

Next, the focus is on Georgia. According to its own statements, Freedom is actively preparing an application for a banking license. The National Bank of Georgia has already confirmed that the group is investing significant resources in this process. Although a formal application has not yet been submitted, preparations are underway.

The logic behind this sequence is clear: Freedom is first tapping into markets that are culturally, linguistically, and regulatorily closer. There, the company aims to build trust, obtain licenses, and test its model in a familiar environment before moving into more complex markets.

Turkey as a Bridge Market

Turkey plays a special role. For Freedom, it is currently the most important short-term acquisition target and, at the same time, a potential bridge market between Asia and Europe. In 2025, the group received a full brokerage license there. It also acquired a 99.2 percent stake in Turkish Bank A.Ş.—a move that is expected to require investments of up to $300 million in the coming years.

If the regulatory authorities approve full integration, Freedom could consolidate payments, deposits, and trading into a single digital ecosystem in Turkey. The company intends to roll out this exact model in Western markets later on.

From the management’s perspective, Turkey appears more accessible than the EU. Freedom sees greater regulatory openness and fewer cultural barriers there. At the same time, the country lies at a strategically important intersection between European and Asian capital flows. This makes Turkey a bridgehead for Freedom with both regional and international functions.

Europe as a Strategic Core Target

In the long term, however, Europe is the most important target market. Freedom is already present there with its brokerage platform Freedom24 and, according to its own figures, serves more than 600,000 customers. Within the EU, Greece, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, and Spain are among the most important markets. The technological backbone for this business is based in Cyprus, where Freedom Finance Technologies works on the infrastructure of the global ecosystem with more than 500 developers.

Freedom holds a brokerage license from Cyprus’s CySEC, which allows the company to serve investors throughout the European Union. But from management’s perspective, brokerage is just the starting point. The real goal is a European banking license. Only then would Freedom be able to offer its fully integrated financial model in the Eurozone—and thus compete directly with companies like Revolut, N26, or Trade Republic.

Turlov articulates this goal openly. Expansion into Europe and later into the U.S. is crucial for the company’s long-term survival. Ultimately, the success of a technology also depends on the markets in which it is present.

In doing so, Freedom is taking a step-by-step approach. First, the company is entering the markets via brokerage. Banking services are to follow only once the regulatory requirements are in place. It is also striking what Freedom deliberately does not offer: neither cryptocurrencies nor CFDs. The company thus positions itself as a deliberate alternative to riskier or more speculative fintech models.

At the same time, Freedom is preparing the necessary infrastructure for larger markets. Among other things, it plans to become a member of the stock exchanges in Stuttgart, Frankfurt, and Euronext. Turlov also sees some movement on the regulatory front. In his view, regulators are more open to new providers today than they were a few years ago.

Eastern Europe as an Intermediate Step

In addition to the major target markets in Western Europe, Freedom is gradually establishing smaller locations in Eastern Europe. Offices in Romania and the Czech Republic are set to open later this year, and the recruitment process is already underway. The company already has a presence in Bulgaria. Lisbon is also being considered as a potential location for 2026.

The pattern is similar everywhere: small local teams for sales, compliance, and technical support, while the actual services are provided centrally from Cyprus. Eastern Europe thus serves as a springboard. Here, Freedom aims to build credibility and an operational presence in order to take the next regulatory step later on.

Growth with an Image Hurdle

In addition to regulation and capital, Freedom faces another challenge: its own image of origin. In Western markets, knowledge of Central Asia is limited, and a company with post-Soviet roots must work harder to convince stakeholders.

The group’s response is two-pronged. On the one hand, Freedom is accelerating the development of AI-powered products created in Cyprus. On the other hand, the company is trying to build trust through its long-standing Nasdaq listing, regulation by CySEC, and its deliberate distancing from cryptocurrencies and CFDs.

Ultimately, Turlov holds a clear strategic conviction: In the technology sector, a few large providers secure the lion’s share of the market. He sees this dynamic not only in search engines, social media, or artificial intelligence, but also in the financial sector in the future. For Freedom, therefore, it is not just about expansion, but about long-term relevance—and ultimately about survival in the face of global competition.

The company, which went public six years ago as a brokerage firm in New York, is harder to categorize today than it was back then. Whether the Central Asian market leader will become a global competitor remains to be seen. There is, however, no doubt about the management’s ambitions.