Kazakhstan Shuts Down Crypto Exchange That Transferred $34 Million Through Binance – Exchange Bitcoin News

Authorities in Kazakhstan have destroyed an illegal crypto trading platform and seized over $350,000. The exchange reportedly processed nearly $34 million in transactions through wallets on Binance, two of which have been blocked during the ongoing investigation.

Digital Asset Exchange that provides millions in turnover closed in Kazakhstan

A platform illegally trading cryptocurrencies in Kazakhstan, ABS Change, has been identified and shut down, the country’s Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA) announced on Telegram. Three Kazakh nationals have been accused of running the exchange, which has been operating without a license since 2021.

During an operation in the country’s capital, law enforcement officials confiscated $342,000 and 7 million tenge (almost $16,000) in cash. The device had another $23,000 worth of crypto assets in two wallets on Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, which have been temporarily restricted, the statement said.

According to the FMA, ABS Change transferred a total of $34 million through Binance. The watchdog pointed out that its operations were conducted outside the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC). Only exchanges resident in the financial hub are authorized to offer crypto trading services in the Central Asian nation.

The FMA’s main focus has been preventing “grey” business activities, including those in the crypto space, and the agency said Kazakhstan’s shadow economy shrank to below 20% last year. In January, the regulator took down several websites for coin trading. In February, it seized nearly $188,000 worth of property, including digital assets, from a Russian national involved in these illegal operations.

After China’s crackdown on the industry, Kazakhstan attracted many cryptocurrency miners with its cheap electricity, but they have been blamed for a growing power deficit. Since the expansion of the sector, the government of Nur-Sultan has taken steps to regulate it and the country’s growing crypto-economy as a whole.

A law restricting mining farms’ access to low-cost power came into effect in Kazakhstan in February. The legislation introduces a licensing regime for miners and obliges them to sell the bulk of their earnings on domestically registered exchanges.

Do you think Kazakhstan will continue to crack down on unlicensed crypto trading platforms? Tell us in the comments section below.

Lubomir Tassev

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Eastern Europe who likes Hitchens’ quote: “To be a writer is what I am, rather than what I do.” Besides crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.