Kazakhstan’s crypto enforcement efforts did not reset at the start of 2025. Instead, authorities carried forward actions that began earlier, shifting from broad market cleanups to more targeted measures focused on access, payments, and informal intermediaries. As a result, operational follow-through defined the year 2025 more than headline numbers did.
After a wide-ranging enforcement campaign in prior periods, Kazakhstan’s regulators entered 2025 with crypto oversight already in motion. Rather than announcing new prohibitions, officials concentrated on tightening control over how unlicensed activity continued to operate. That distinction matters because 2025 reflects enforcement continuity rather than a new escalation.
Why crypto enforcement in Kazakhstan shifted in 2025
The first enforcement wave reduced the visibility of openly unlicensed exchanges, but informal crypto activity adjusted quickly and continued through other channels.
By early 2025, authorities were increasingly concerned about offshore platforms still accessible to domestic users. Informal brokers kept operating through messaging apps, and card-based fiat on-ramps bypassed licensed channels. In response, regulators adjusted their approach. The focus moved away from taking down platforms en masse and toward the infrastructure that allowed illegal trading to persist.
Hence, later actions appear smaller in scale but sharper in execution. The objective was no longer broad disruption. Sustained pressure on unlicensed crypto operations became the enforcement goal for authorities in Kazakhstan.
Blocking access to unlicensed crypto platforms
One of the most visible tools used in 2025 was website blocking. Regulators restricted access to roughly 1,100 crypto-related websites offering trading services without authorization.
When Kazakhstan blocks crypto websites, it does not target blockchain protocols themselves. Instead, enforcement concentrates on web-based interfaces, mirror sites, and offshore platforms marketed to local users. Instead of chasing every operator individually, they cut off the entry points, complementing the earlier exchange shutdowns.
Website blocking reflects the fact that unlicensed platforms often reappear under new domains, while access restrictions at the network level reduce their reach and shorten their operational lifespan.
Shutting down remaining shadow exchanges
Alongside access restrictions, authorities reported the closure of 22 shadow crypto exchanges during 2025. While the number is small compared with earlier cleanup efforts, the focus was deliberate.
These were active platforms that continued facilitating trades even after previous enforcement actions. Rather than targeting marginal or inactive operators, regulators moved against exchanges that had proven able to persist under pressure.
The narrower scope reflects how enforcement evolved over time. Instead of sweeping broadly, authorities concentrated on shutting down illegal crypto exchanges officials viewed as repeat offenders, signaling diminishing tolerance for unlicensed activity that continued to resurface.
Cutting off fiat on-ramps
Perhaps the most consequential measure in 2025 involved the financial system. Authorities froze more than 20,000 bank cards linked to suspected crypto-related violations.
This step directly affected informal brokers and OTC-style traders who relied on personal or pooled cards to move funds. By targeting payment rails, regulators disrupted the bridge between fiat and crypto rather than crypto activity in isolation.
The scale of card freezes suggests coordination between financial monitoring agencies and commercial banks. It also signals that compliance expectations now extend beyond exchanges to the banking relationships that enable unlicensed trading.
Enforcement beyond platforms
Another notable feature of the 2025 enforcement trajectory was the extension of scrutiny beyond platforms and infrastructure to individual facilitators. While large-scale action against influencers was not a defining feature of the year, authorities signaled that personal liability was not off the table.
One illustrative case emerged in early 2026, when investigators seized approximately 182,700 USDT from a blogger accused of promoting illegal gambling operations using crypto. Although the seizure occurred after the close of 2025, it reflects enforcement patterns that had already taken shape last year and reinforces the deterrence message directed at informal promoters.
Beyond isolated cases, official disclosures indicate that more than 1,135 crypto-related criminal investigations were concluded in 2025. That number suggests that accountability efforts extended well beyond exchanges themselves. Taken together, these actions show enforcement moving gradually from platforms toward the broader networks that enable unlicensed crypto activity in Kazakhstan.
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What 2025 reveals about Kazakhstan’s crypto policy
The pattern that emerged in 2025 was one of follow-through. Operating outside the licensed crypto framework became increasingly difficult. Website blocks, targeted exchange closures, payment freezes, and selective individual cases all pointed in the same direction: informal crypto markets were being pushed to the margins. The emphasis shifted away from headline numbers toward persistence. What mattered was not eliminating every platform, but making unlicensed activity harder to run, easier to detect, and less attractive over time.
