In 2023, Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA) took action against illegal cryptocurrency exchanges operating in the country. The FMA blocked access to nearly a thousand platforms that were serving citizens without proper registration. This move was in accordance with the Digital Assets Law, which prohibits the creation and trading of digital currencies without a national license.

The FMA also launched investigations into “illegal exchange operations” and money laundering, demonstrating the government’s commitment to combating financial crimes. The chairman of the FMA, Ruslan Ostroumov, shared this information during a meeting of the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering in China.

Notably, some major international platforms were included in the list of unlicensed exchanges that were blocked. In fact, Kazakh citizens were unable to access the Coinbase website due to an order from the Ministry of Culture and Information. The Ministry explained that the request came from the Ministry of Digital Development, which accused Coinbase of violating the Digital Assets Law.

On a positive note, several exchanges have been approved to operate in Kazakhstan, including Binance, Bybit, CaspianEx, Biteeu, ATAIX, Upbit, and Xignal&MT. These platforms have obtained the necessary licenses and are authorized to provide cryptocurrency services in the country.

Overall, Kazakhstan’s efforts to regulate the cryptocurrency industry and crack down on illegal exchanges demonstrate its commitment to maintaining a secure and compliant financial environment.

This News Article was automatically generated by Bob the Bot (AI)

Information	Details
Geography	Asia
Countries	🇨🇳 🇰🇿
Sentiment	neutral
Relevance Score	1
People	Ruslan Ostroumov
Companies	Bybit, Ministry of Digital Development, Biteeu, Ministry of Culture and Information, FMA, Binance, Upbit, ATAIX, Astana International Financial Center (AIFC), Xignal&MT, Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering, CaspianEx, Coinbase
Currencies	None
Securities	None