Kazakh financial authorities have terminated operations at 130 unlicensed crypto platforms and confiscated $16.7 million in digital assets as part of a nationwide enforcement campaign targeting money laundering operations. Kairat Bizhanov, Deputy Chairman of the country's Financial Monitoring Agency, disclosed the results at a government briefing, noting that domestic law restricts crypto trading to platforms holding licences from the Astana Financial Services Authority and maintaining integration with the traditional banking system.
Financial monitors also exposed 81 clandestine cash-out networks with aggregate transaction volumes exceeding $43 million. Nationwide ATM cash extraction reached $24.1 billion over the measurement period, representing a $1.8 billion increase from the prior year, with ATMs remaining a critical vulnerability in the financial system. Authorities responded by mandating identity verification through government databases and mobile authentication for payment card loads exceeding $913, while requiring financial institutions to preserve ATM surveillance footage for six months. Regulators are also preparing to mandate biometric authentication, facial recognition, and fingerprint scanning for all cash-based transactions. Cybercrime consultant David Sehyeon Baek told Decrypt the initiative represents one of the boldest experiments in tying physical identity to financial transparency, but warned that without strong data-protection laws and independent oversight, such systems could become instruments of surveillance. These enforcement measures align with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's September announcement of a three-year plan to transform Kazakhstan into a fully-fledged digital country, including the creation of the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, a State Digital Assets Fund to serve as the national reserve for crypto assets, and the Alem.ai International Centre for Artificial Intelligence launched on 2 October.
Kazakhstan's approach combines stringent enforcement against illicit crypto activity with ambitious digital transformation goals, as the country positions itself between China, Russia, and Europe to become Central Asia's digital hub while asserting digital sovereignty.
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