Казахстан продвигает борьбу с нелегальными криптобиржами, изъятие активов на $16,7 млн Translation: Kazakhstan Advances Fight Against Illegal Crypto Exchanges, Seizing Assets Worth $16.7 Million

The Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA) of Kazakhstan has disrupted the operations of illegal cryptocurrency exchanges suspected of money laundering activities. This was reported by the agency’s deputy chairman, Kairat Bizhanov.

Law enforcement has confiscated virtual assets valued at $16.7 million.

«This year, we have halted the activities of 130 unlicensed crypto exchanges involved in laundering criminal proceeds,» Bizhanov stated.

According to Kazakhstan’s legislation, only cryptocurrency exchanges with a license from the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) are permitted to operate legally in the country. They must also be integrated with local banking institutions.

The FMA is also tackling illegal cash-out schemes. In 2024, the agency identified 81 shadow groups with a total turnover of 24 billion tenge (over $43 million).

To combat this practice, the FMA and the National Bank have introduced new regulations. Now, when adding funds to a card exceeding 500,000 tenge ($913), it is necessary to enter your tax identification number (TIN) and confirm the transaction via a mobile application. Starting from January 1, 2026, banks will also be required to retain ATM video recordings for a minimum of 180 days.

Authorities plan to expand the use of biometric technologies, including facial recognition and fingerprint scanning, for all cash transactions.

In collaboration with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence, the agency has drafted amendments to tighten business registration processes. The focus will be on assessing the risk criteria of company founders and executives.

Over the past three years, tax authorities have revoked the registrations of 3,600 shell companies that were linked to 30,000 fraudulent activities totaling 280 billion tenge ($511 million).

It is worth noting that on October 2, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao discussed the development of the crypto industry and the inclusion of BNB in state reserves with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.