Kazakhstan closes 130 crypto platforms in shadow economy crackdown
Kazakhstan has intensified its fight against financial crime, closing 130 cryptocurrency exchanges linked to money laundering and confiscating digital assets valued at $16.7 million (€14.4 million), the Kazakh Agency for Financial Monitoring (AFM) reported.
According to the AFM, these shadow platforms were used by criminal groups across Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine and Moldova to launder proceeds from drug trafficking and online fraud.
The agency described the scheme as a multi-step process. Drug dealers and cybercriminals first transferred their profits, either in fiat or cryptocurrency, to exchange wallets, where the funds were converted and routed through a series of transactions to disguise their origin.
“These illicit exchanges act…
