Kazakhstan Has Blocked 980 Unlicensed Cryptocurrency Exchanges by 2023

The Financial Monitoring Agency also opened nine investigations⁣ into “illegal exchange transactions”⁤ and money laundering.

The Financial Supervisory Authority⁣ of Kazakhstan (FMA) in 2023 blocked access‍ to almost a thousand cryptocurrency exchanges that served citizens of​ Kazakhstan without proper registration.

A press release on the ‍government website published on December 7,⁣ 2023 stated that ⁢the FMA ‍had⁤ denied access to almost a thousand illegal platforms. In addition, the FMA initiated nine investigations into money laundering and “illegal⁣ exchange”. Ruslan Osterroumov, Chairman of the FMA, announced this information ‌during the meeting of the ‌Eurasian Group to​ Combat Money Laundering in‌ China.

According to the Digital Assets Law enacted by Kazakhstan‌ in February 2023, it is illegal to create⁣ and trade digital currencies⁣ or cryptocurrency exchanges without​ a license. The Astana​ International Financial Center is a special economic zone in ⁢Kazakhstan⁢ and issues preliminary​ permits for operations.

Some ⁢major international platforms are included ‌in the list of blocked unlicensed exchanges. ⁣In November, it ‍became known that​ Kazakhs could no longer access Coinbase’s website due to an order from the ⁤Ministry of Culture and Information. Journalists were informed by ministry officials that the request was made by another government agency,⁤ the Ministry of Digital Development. The Ministry of Digital Development accused ‍Coinbase of violating the Digital ⁣Assets‍ Act.

Binance, Bybit, CaspianEx, Biteeu, ATAIX, Upbit and Xignal&MT are the only companies granted permission to⁤ operate in ⁢the country.‍