Kazakhstan cracks down on illegal crypto exchanges, shuts down 130 platforms

Kazakhstan has shut down more than a hundred cryptocurrency exchanges this year in what amounts to a massive crackdown on illegal coin trading within its borders.

The news comes despite earlier indications that the country intends to expand its licensing regime to cover more platforms providing such services as it seeks to position itself as a major Eurasian crypto destination.

Astana confiscates record amount of digital assets from busted exchanges

The authorities in Kazakhstan have closed down 130 illegal cryptocurrency exchanges, seizing millions of U.S. dollars’ worth of virtual assets.

The tally, quoted by local and regional media, was made public by Kairat Bizhanov, deputy chairman of the Financial Monitoring Agency (AFM).

According to a report by the Times of Central Asia, an online English-language newspaper covering regional developments, he detailed:

“The activities of 130 unlicensed crypto exchanges involved in laundering criminal proceeds have been terminated this year. Virtual assets worth $16.7 million were seized.”

Speaking during a government meeting, the AFM official also emphasized that the agency is intensifying efforts to combat illegal cash-out operations.

Since the beginning of 2025, Kazakh authorities have exposed 81 criminal groups involved in such activities.

These accounted for more than 24 billion tenge (over $44 million) in turnover, the official added, also quoted by the business news outlet Kapital.kz on Tuesday.

Despite dedicated measures introduced by the executive power in Astana, this is a trillion tenge more than last year, Bizhanov admitted.

He also pointed out that risks mainly stem from anonymous transactions, where neither the sender nor the recipient is identified.

Highlighting the widespread exploitation of “money mules” by criminals and fraudsters in the former Soviet space, the regulator added:

“These operations are often conducted using bank cards issued to nominal owners.”

To curb the practice, the AFM and the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) have adopted new rules, with debit card top-ups exceeding 500,000 tenge (just over $900) now requiring the provision individual identification numberс and confirmation via mobile banking apps.

Since Jan. 1, banks are also obliged to keep footage from cameras installed at ATM locations for at least 180 days. The watchdog also plans to expand biometric identification, including facial and fingerprint recognition, for all cash transactions.

Similar steps were recently taken by regulators in Russia, where money mules, commonly called “droppers,” are also a serious criminal phenomenon.

These include empowering banks to enforce a $600 daily limit on cash withdrawals, in case of suspicious transactions, and adopting amendments that have been criticized for targeting crypto traders.

Kazakhstan’s roundup comes after last month’s law enforcement agencies in Moscow raided Russian crypto exchanges suspected of facilitating capital flight, as reported by Cryptopolitan.

Exchanges operating outside Kazakhstan’s AIFC hub still illegal

According to Kazakhstan’s law “On Digital Assets,” only crypto exchanges licensed by the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) are authorized to operate in the country.

The AFSA is the regulatory body responsible for overseeing activities under the special regime of the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC), the financial hub in the capital city.

Exchanges working without an AFSA license are still considered illegal in Kazakhstan, despite statements in May revealing that the financial authorities are preparing to legalize other trading as well.

They were expected to expand the current licensing scheme beyond the AIFC jurisdiction to cover platforms not registered as its residents, thus boosting crypto transactions in the rest of the country.

Kazakhstan, which is already a major Bitcoin mining hotspot, aspires to become a magnet for all crypto business in Eurasia.

While occasionally blaming miners for power deficits and financial losses, Astana has also recognized it made over $31 million in tax revenues from the industry over the past three years.

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