Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA) revealed it blocked access to 980 unlicensed cryptocurrency exchanges in 2023 for operating illegally without proper registration. FMA head Ruslan Ostroumov disclosed the enforcement actions during a recent Eurasian anti-money laundering meeting.
The FMA also initiated nine investigations into illicit crypto exchange activities and potential money laundering uncovered this year. Kazakhstan enacted a Digital Assets Law in February 2023 that requires a national license for establishing crypto exchanges and trading services. Violations can lead authorities to block access to non-compliant platforms.
The blocked exchanges included some major international players – local reports from November indicated citizens could no longer access the oinbase">Coinbase website per a government order. Officials cited the trading giant’s lack of approved registration under crypto regulations.
Currently only a handful of exchanges like Binance, Bybit, Biteeu and Xignal&MT have formal approval to serve the Kazakh market. But the FMA continues restricting access to nearly a thousand others flouting registration rules as it ramps up oversight of the local sector. Alongside blocking non-compliant platforms, probes into more serious criminal abuse related to illegal exchanges are also underway.
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