$15 billion in crypto assets transferred out of Kazakhstan

Tengrinews.kz - About $15 billion worth of crypto assets has been moved out of Kazakhstan, Deputy Governor of the National Bank Berik Sholpankulov said at a briefing.
"As of today, the volume of crypto assets taken out of the country stands at $15 billion. The issue was that the administrative and legal framework was insufficiently developed for citizens to safely invest in such assets," he said.
According to Sholpankulov, Kazakhstan is now working on legislative approaches to better regulate the digital asset market. A key priority is to prevent the illegal outflow of funds.

"These approaches have already been developed, and they will be implemented. The second part involves criminal and administrative prosecution of those who, as you say, are attempting to illegally transfer funds," he noted.

The deputy governor added that, in the future, it will be possible to identify and trace where the assets were moved thanks to technological capabilities provided by international crypto transaction monitoring systems.

"We may hold another briefing and announce, by name, who spent what and where in the 'gray zone'. That would fall under criminal and administrative prosecution," he said.

When asked whether authorities had any leads on the previously withdrawn $15 billion.

"Not at the moment. But once we join the relevant system, we’ll be able to see it and inform you. Perhaps we’ll announce a separate briefing to report who did what, where funds are stored, and which wallets are operating in the illegal space. The technological capability exists — we just need time," Sholpankulov responded.

Earlier, Deputy Governor of the National Bank Berik Sholpankulov dismissed as rumors recent claims circulating on social media about unexplained withdrawals from citizens’ bank accounts.