Kazakhstan has so far blocked more than 3,500 online illegal cryptocurrency trading platforms, according to the country’s financial watchdog.
1 january 6 Announcement The Financial Monitoring Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan (AFM) says the country is continuing efforts to remove crypto exchanges that violate the country’s digital assets laws.
In 2024, the regulator, in collaboration with the National Security Committee and the Ministry of Culture and Information, removed 36 illegal entities operating without authorization.
These platforms had a turnover of approximately 60 billion Kazakhstani tenge and have now been liquidated, the agency said in the announcement, adding that it had traded a turnover of 4.8 million. tether-released The stablecoin USDT as part of the action.
Of the platforms taken down, the agency uncovered two pyramid schemes and was able to recover 545,000 USDT, which was returned to the victims. An additional 120,000 USDT were frozen.
Specifically, Kazakh regulators have blocked access to more than 3,500 online crypto exchanges during their multi-year crackdown.
In 2023 alone, the agency blocked 980 unlicensed platforms while launching investigations into suspects Money laundering activities.
According to regulators, the blocked crypto exchanges failed to maintain due diligence and reporting standards, leaving them vulnerable to misuse by criminals, especially scammers and drug traffickers, for activities such as money laundering and illegal transfers of funds.
The authorities have vowed to continue to intensify their efforts in this regard by collaborating with international partners and improving tools to monitor financial transactions.
New legislation has also been drafted that provides for penalties for those found involved in money laundering activities.
Kazakhstan tightens crypto surveillance
While unlicensed exchanges face restrictions, regulated platforms continue to serve the local crypto market, which has seen significant growth over the past year.
according to a report According to RISE Research and Freedom Horizons, Kazakhstan’s population holding cryptocurrencies is set to double, from 4% in 2022 to nearly 8% in 2024.
As such, major foreign exchanges like Binance and Bybit have sought licenses to operate in the country.
However, the government has maintained a stringent regulatory environment marked by enforcement actions that go beyond mere cryptocurrency exchanges.
In October last year, AFM Chairman Zhanat Elimanov had announced that the agency would also focus its efforts on monitoring illegal transactions involving crypto mining and digital assets.
At that time, the regulator reported Destroying many illegal mining operations and seized approximately 4,000 mining rigs.
During the same month, the AFM also published draft legislation proposing stricter controls on crypto-related transactions, including preventing transfers to foreign platforms without local registration and limiting monthly transactions to unlicensed exchanges to 100,000 tonnes. This included limiting the
Post Kazakhstan blocks over 3,500 illegal crypto exchanges in major regulatory crackdown first appeared on Invez
