Kazakhstan Sentences Trader to Five Years in Prison
Date: 2024-08-19 Author: Gabriel Deangelo Categories: IN WORLD
According to the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan and news agency Inform Buro, the convicted man has also been banned from trading cryptocurrencies for 10 years, as well as “digital mining.”
Tough Punishments for Offenders in Kazakhstan
The court also confiscated about $4.19 million in fiat and cryptocurrency from the man, which will be transferred to the treasury.
According to the court, the convicted man illegally traded cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), and Ethereum (ETH) on “foreign platforms.” He used various cryptocurrency exchanges, as well as Nixmoney, Qiwi, Perfect Money, and Payeer.
The court also found that the man was illegally mining cryptocurrencies, although it did not specify which coins he mined or whether he used an illegal power connection to do so.
Prosecutors said the man was active on the platforms between 2020 and 2022 and that he “laundered some of his illegal income by buying real estate, which he then sold and rented out.”
The prosecution had sought a prison term of more than six years, including two and a half years for “illegal business activity” and another four years for “money laundering.”
The convict, a resident of the Kostanay region in northern Kazakhstan, denied all charges during the trial.
A Changing Attitude Toward Cryptocurrencies?
Kazakhstan has previously taken a liberal and progressive approach to cryptocurrencies and mining. However, after widespread power outages in early 2022, when the country faced energy shortages, attitudes toward miners and cryptocurrencies changed dramatically.
The country's government has begun an active fight against illegal miners and has threatened sanctions against traders using unregistered crypto exchanges. Moreover, the authorities require all crypto companies to conduct their activities through the Astana International Financial Center.
The campaign to tighten control over cryptocurrencies in Kazakhstan is likely to expand as government agencies gain more powers.
Earlier this month, Kazakhstan's anti-money laundering agency said it had blocked $75.4 million in illegal crypto transactions so far.
