Kazakhstan’s financial authorities have targeted at least five online platforms that trade cryptocurrencies outside the law. Documents, computer equipment and cryptocurrency wallets have been seized during raids in the north of the country.
Kazakhstan’s Financial Watchdog Goes After Unlicensed Cryptocurrency Exchange Services
The Financial Supervisory Agency (FMA) of the Republic of Kazakhstan has dismantled a group involved in the illegal exchange of cryptocurrencies. Its members organized trading through various websites such as kzobmen.com, 1wm.kz, kazobmen.ru, wm007.kz and kz-exchange.com.
As part of the operation in the Kostanay region, searches were carried out at six locations, seizing items incriminating the rig operators, the watchdog said in a press release. His employees seized several laptops, cell phones and flash memory cards, as well as bank and accounting documents.
The authority alleged that the organizers of the online exchangers had received “especially large-scale” income from their trading company, without specifying the amount. It also did not reveal how many people were in the group or their identities.
The researchers were able to establish that they had two crypto wallets on Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, with a combined balance of $6,000 worth of digital assets. Access to these wallets has been temporarily restricted, the FMA noted. More than $200,000 worth of coins were found in wallets with other exchanges.
A pretrial investigation is underway, according to the announcement. The Financial Supervisory Agency also reminded that these types of activities are only allowed under the special legal regime of the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC).
Kazakhstan’s government has been taking steps to regulate the country’s crypto market, which has been growing since the Central Asian nation became a hotspot for bitcoin mining following China’s crackdown on the industry in 2021.
In order to operate an exchange platform legally, crypto companies must obtain regulatory approval and register with the financial center of Kazakhstan. In October 2022, Binance was licensed as a provider of cryptocurrency exchange and custody services. Earlier that month, he agreed to share information about cryptocurrency-related crimes with authorities in Nur-Sultan.
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