RAKS Shadow Crypto Exchange With $224 Million Turnover Liquidated in Kazakhstan

• The Financial Monitoring Agency has identified a shadow exchange service linked to the CIS drug market.
• 67 cryptocurrency wallets were blocked and assets worth 9.7 million USDT were frozen.
• The activity of RAKS exchange was stopped, the investigation against the organizers continues.

The Agency for Financial Monitoring of Kazakhstan reported the liquidation of the crypto exchange RAKS exchange, through which the proceeds of drug trafficking and Internet fraud were laundered. According to the agency, the service had been operating for more than three years and was one of the key participants in the shadow economy of the region.

The investigation found that RAKS cooperated with 20 of the largest marketplaces on the darknet, the combined audience of which exceeded 5 million people. More than 200 drug shops operating in Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, and Moldova laundered funds through the platform.

The total turnover of the platform amounted to over $224 million, according to the country’s authorities.

During the investigation, AFM specialists analyzed more than 4,000 cryptocurrency wallets and identified those used to store criminal proceeds. As a result, 67 addresses belonging to the service were blocked. The frozen assets amounted to 9.7 million USDT.

The agency also recorded signs of the service’s shutdown. According to its data, social media accounts have been deleted, and customer support has been suspended. At the same time, mass complaints from customers about failure to fulfill financial obligations appeared on specialized forums of the darknet.

According to the agency, the measures taken caused serious damage to the drug industry, disrupted supply channels and reduced trust in illegal sites. This has affected the turnover of darknet markets in the region.

Work to identify the organizers of the RAKS exchange is ongoing, the authorities said. The AFM emphasized that the fight against the laundering of criminal proceeds using digital currencies remains a priority.