Kazakhstan Takes Down RAKS Exchange and Strikes $224 Million Darknet Money

Key Highlights RAKS Exchange laundered over $224 million in criminal funds. 5 million darknet users affected by the shutdown. 67 crypto wallets frozen, totaling 9.7 million ￰0￱ Shuts Down RAKS Cryptocurrency Exchange in Major Anti-Drug Operation Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Agency (AFM) has announced the closure of the RAKS cryptocurrency exchange, a platform heavily involved in laundering money from drug trafficking and online ￰1￱ service operated for over three years and was a central part of the region’s shadow ￰2￱ Exchange’s Dark Network Uncovered The investigation revealed that RAKS collaborated with 20 of the largest darknet marketplaces, reaching over 5 million ￰3￱ platform laundered funds from more than 200 drug operations across Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, and ￰4￱ estimate the total volume of transactions handled by the platform exceeded $224 ￰5￱ specialists analyzed over 4,000 crypto wallets, identifying those linked to criminal ￰6￱ a result, 67 addresses connected to RAKS were blocked, freezing assets totaling 9.7 million ￰7￱ agency also noted clear signs that the service was shutting ￰8￱ media accounts were deleted, customer support was suspended, and numerous complaints regarding unfulfilled financial obligations appeared on darknet ￰9￱ on the Shadow Economy Officials stated that these measures dealt a severe blow to drug trafficking infrastructure, disrupting supply chains and reducing trust in illegal ￰10￱ shutdown of RAKS is expected to significantly impact darknet market operations in the ￰11￱ continue efforts to identify the organizers behind ￰12￱ AFM emphasized that combating money laundering through digital currencies remains a top priority.

Earlier, authorities announced plans to establish a digital asset fund in Kazakhstan, further strengthening regulatory oversight.