by Alimat Aliyeva

The Financial Monitoring Agency of Kazakhstan (AFM) has
announced the shutdown of one of the largest shadow crypto services
in the CIS — RAKS Exchange, AzerNEWS reports.

According to the agency, the platform was used to process
transactions for more than 200 darknet drug marketplaces operating
across Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, and Moldova. The total turnover
of the service is reported to have exceeded $224 million,
highlighting the scale of its operations.

As part of a large-scale investigation, AFM conducted blockchain
analysis of more than 4,000 cryptocurrency wallets linked to drug
trafficking and darknet platforms. This type of digital forensics
is increasingly becoming a key tool for…