Key takeaways:
- The FMA of Kazakhstan restricted access to almost a thousand crypto exchanges that catered to the nation’s people without the required paperwork in 2023.
- Enacted in February 2023, the Digital Assets Law forbids the creation, trade, and exchange of digital currencies without first obtaining a national license.
The Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA) of Kazakhstan restricted access to almost a thousand cryptocurrency exchanges that catered to the nation’s people without the required paperwork in 2023.
A press release from the government was posted on the website on December 7th. It stated that in 2023, 980 illicit platforms were refused access by the FMA. Nine investigations into “illegal exchange operations” and money laundering were also started by it.
Ruslan Ostroumov, the FMA chairman, disclosed this information during the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering in China conference.
Enacted in February 2023, the Digital Assets Law forbids the creation, trade, and exchange of digital currencies without first obtaining a national license. The initial clearance for operations is given by the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), which serves as a special economic zone in Kazakhstan.
Some significant worldwide platforms are included in the list of unauthorized exchanges that have been blocked. It was discovered in November that the Coinbase website was inaccessible to Kazakh nationals due to a directive from the Ministry of Culture and Information.
Journalists were informed by ministry personnel that the request originated with the Ministry of Digital Development, an independent government agency that charged Coinbase with breaking the Digital Assets Law.
Thus far, authorization to conduct business in the nation has been granted to Binance, Bybit, CaspianEx, Biteeu, ATAIX, Upbit, and Xignal&MT.
By establishing a specialized organization tasked with spearheading the creation and introduction of its central bank digital currency (CBDC), also referred to as the digital tenge, Kazakhstan’s National Bank (NBK) has made a noteworthy stride towards embracing the digital economy.
The Kazakhstan Centre for Interbank Settlements was reorganized to become the National Payment Corporation (NPC), which was given responsibility for managing the country’s payment system. The digital tenge launch deadline is 2025.
