According to a statement published on December 7 on the government website, the FMA denied access to 980 illegal platforms in 2023. It also opened nine investigations into “illegal currency exchanges” and money laundering. These data were revealed through the president of the FMA, Ruslan Ostroumov, at the assembly. of the Eurasian Group against Money Laundering in China.
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The Digital Assets Act, enacted in February 2023, prohibits the creation and trading of virtual currencies and cryptocurrency exchange activities unless a national license is obtained. The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), which operates as a special economic zone in Kazakhstan, must grant initial approval for the operations.
The list of unlicensed exchanges blocked includes some major international platforms. In November, it was revealed that Kazakh citizens could not access the Coinbase website after an order from the Ministry of Culture and Information blocked it. Ministry representatives explained to journalists that the request came from a different government body, the Ministry of Digital Development, which accused Coinbase of violating the Digital Assets Law.
To date, Binance, Bybit, CaspianEx, Biteeu, ATAIX, Upbit and Xignal&MT have been approved to operate in the country.
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