Казахстан на пути к легализации криптоиндустрии: изъяты $16,7 млн нелегальных активов Translation: Kazakhstan on the path to legalizing the crypto industry: $16.7 million in illegal assets seized.

The Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA) of Kazakhstan has shut down the operations of illegal cryptocurrency exchanges suspected of laundering illicit funds. This was announced by Deputy Chairman Kayrat Bizhanov.

Law enforcement agencies confiscated virtual assets valued at $16.7 million.

«This year, we have halted the activities of 130 unlicensed crypto exchange services involved in money laundering,» stated Bizhanov.

According to Kazakhstan’s legislation, only cryptocurrency exchanges that possess a license from the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) are permitted to operate legally in the country. They must also be integrated with local banks.

The FMA is also addressing schemes of illegal cash withdrawals. In 2024, the agency uncovered 81 shadow groups with a total turnover of 24 billion tenge (over $43 million).

To combat this issue, the FMA and the National Bank have introduced new regulations. Now, for card top-ups exceeding 500,000 tenge ($913), individuals must provide their Tax Identification Number (TIN) and confirm the transaction via a mobile application. Starting from January 1, 2026, banks will also be required to retain recordings from ATM cameras for no less than 180 days.

Authorities plan to expand the use of biometrics, including facial recognition and fingerprint scanning, for all cash transactions.

In collaboration with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence, the agency has developed amendments to tighten business registration. Emphasis will be placed on assessing the founders and managers of companies based on risk criteria.

Over the past three years, tax authorities have revoked the registration of 3,600 fictitious firms linked to 30,000 fraudulent operations totaling 280 billion tenge ($511 million).

It is worth noting that on October 2, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao met with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to discuss the development of the crypto industry and the inclusion of BNB in state reserves.