Authorities in Kazakhstan have blocked greater than 3,500 cryptocurrency exchanges working illegally, in line with an announcement by the Kazakh regulator, AFM RK. The crackdown resulted from joint efforts by the Nationwide Safety Committee and the Ministry of Tradition and Info.
In 2023, Kazakh authorities blocked entry to Coinbase, citing alleged violations of the nation’s digital asset legal guidelines.
Liquidation of Unlawful Crypto Platforms
In 2024, the regulator liquidated 36 unlawful crypto exchanges with a mixed turnover of 60 billion Kazakhstani tenge (over US$113 million). Moreover, it froze and confiscated belongings value 4.8 million USDT, a well-liked stablecoin, from these platforms.
Authorities additionally uncovered two cryptocurrency pyramid schemes, returning 545,000 USDT to affected victims and freezing 120,000 USDT held by the platforms.
“AFM continues to work with worldwide companions to boost management over crypto transactions and fight their use for legal functions. Amendments to the laws have additionally been developed, introducing legal responsibility for suppliers of digital belongings in circumstances of cash laundering violations. Checks on cryptocurrency transactions in monetary establishments have been strengthened,” the regulatory announcement said (translated from Russian).
“AFM will proceed to enhance instruments for successfully monitoring monetary transactions to fight legal schemes involving digital belongings.”
Main Exchanges Betting on Kazakhstan
In the meantime, main international crypto exchanges are increasing their presence in Kazakhstan. In 2023, Bybit secured a full crypto trade licence from the Astana Monetary Companies Authority (AFSA). Binance additionally acquired formal consent from the AFSA, enabling it to acquire a full regulatory licence.
The Nationwide Financial institution of Kazakhstan launched a pilot program to discover the event of the digital tenge, a central financial institution digital foreign money (CBDC). The central financial institution demonstrated enhancements in value-added tax (VAT) reimbursement processing utilizing digital fiat.
This text was written by Arnab Shome at www.financemagnates.com.