The Kazakhstan government has recently shut down an illegal cryptocurrency trading platform that had been carrying out transactions without a license since 2021. The platform, ABS Change, had been transferring a total of $34 million through Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange. The country’s Financial Monitoring Agency seized over $350,000 in cash during the operation in the capital, and two holdalls on Binance containing around $16,000 worth of cryptocurrency were temporarily confiscated.
Authorities have been cracking down on illegal operations in the crypto space, with the focus on preventing “argent” business conditioning. Kazakhstan’s shadow economy has been reduced to below 20 since the beginning of this year. The government has been taking steps to regulate the growing crypto sector, including passing a law that restricts mining granges’ access to low-cost power and requires them to sell most of their profits on domestic listed exchanges.
This news comes after China’s crackdown on the industry, which led to many cryptocurrency miners moving to Kazakhstan due to its cheap electricity. However, the government has been criticized for not having enough power supply to support the increasing demand. Despite this, the country’s crypto economy is still growing, and authorities are trying to regulate it to minimize illegal activities.
