Kazakhstan has blocked over 3500 online illegal cryptocurrency trading platforms to date, according to the nation’s financial watchdog.
A January 6 announcement from the Financial Monitoring Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan (AFM) states that the nation has continued efforts to take down crypto exchanges that breach the country’s digital asset laws.
In 2024, the regulator, in collaboration with the National Security Committee and the Ministry of Culture and Information, took down 36 illegal entities that operated 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 seized 4.8 million in Tether-issued stablecoin USDT as a part of the crackdown.
Among the platforms that were 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 was frozen.
Notably, Kazakh regulators have blocked access to more than 3,500 online crypto exchanges over the course of their multi-year crackdown.
In 2023 alone, the agency blocked 980 unlicensed platforms while launching investigations into suspected money laundering activities.
According to regulators, the blocked crypto exchanges failed to uphold proper due diligence and reporting standards, which made them vulnerable to misuse by criminals, particularly scammers and drug traffickers, for activities such as money laundering and the illegal transfer of funds.
Authorities have vowed to continue intensifying their efforts in this regard by collaborating with international partners and improving tools for monitoring financial transactions.
New legislation has also been drafted that introduces penalties for those found engaging in money laundering activities.
Kazakhstan tightens crypto oversight
While unlicensed exchanges face restrictions, regulated platforms continue to serve the local crypto market, which has witnessed notable growth over the past year.
According to a report from RISE Research and Freedom Horizons, Kazakhstan’s population owning cryptocurrencies has doubled, from 4% in 2022 to roughly 8% in 2024.
As such, prominent foreign exchanges like Binance and ByBit have sought licenses to operate in the country.
However, the government has maintained a rigid regulatory environment marked by enforcement actions that extend beyond just cryptocurrency exchanges.
In October last year, AFM Chairman Zhanat Elimanov declared that the agency would also concentrate its efforts on crypto mining and monitoring unlawful transactions involving digital assets.
At the time, the regulator reported dismantling multiple illegal mining operations and seizing around 4,000 mining rigs.
During the same month, the AFM also published draft laws that proposed stricter controls on crypto-related transactions, including blocking transfers to overseas platforms without local registration and capping monthly transactions to unlicensed exchanges at 100,000 tenge.
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