36 Unauthorized Crypto Exchanges Shut Down in Kazakhstan Amid Ongoing Crackdown

In 2024, Kazakhstan intensified its efforts to tackle money laundering by shutting down 36 illegal cryptocurrency exchanges, a sharp decline of 96% compared to the previous year.

On January 6, the Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA) of Kazakhstan revealed that these exchanges were operating without proper authorization.

The agency explained that these unlicensed platforms facilitated illicit activities by allowing untraceable fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-fiat transactions, often used by criminals such as cyber fraudsters and drug dealers. The FMA stated that the total turnover of the 36 exchanges was around 60 billion Kazakhstani tenge ($112.8 million), with authorities seizing approximately 2.5 billion tenge ($4.8 million) in assets.

This crackdown is part of Kazakhstan’s ongoing campaign against unlicensed crypto services. In 2023, the FMA took action against 980 illegal exchanges and initiated nine investigations related to money laundering. Despite these efforts, several globally licensed exchanges, including Binance, Bybit, and Upbit, continue to operate legally within the country.

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Kazakhstan has been actively working with other government agencies, such as the National Security Committee and the Ministry of Culture and Information, to eliminate unlicensed exchanges. To date, over 3,500 illegal platforms have been taken offline. Among those, two were found to be operating as pyramid schemes, prompting legal actions and the return of $545,000 to defrauded investors.

Kosta Gushterov