Azernews.Az

by Alimat Aliyeva

The Financial Monitoring Agency of Kazakhstan (AFM) has announced the shutdown of one of the largest shadow crypto services in the CIS — RAKS Exchange, AzerNEWS reports.

According to the agency, the platform was used to process transactions for more than 200 darknet drug marketplaces operating across Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, and Moldova. The total turnover of the service is reported to have exceeded $224 million, highlighting the scale of its operations.

As part of a large-scale investigation, AFM conducted blockchain analysis of more than 4,000 cryptocurrency wallets linked to drug trafficking and darknet platforms. This type of digital forensics is increasingly becoming a key tool for law enforcement agencies tracking illegal financial flows in the crypto space.

As a result, authorities managed to freeze digital assets worth over 9.7 million in Tether (USDT). So far, around 3.2 million USDT has been officially confiscated and transferred to a special account after its criminal origin was confirmed.

AFM emphasized that dismantling the platform helped eliminate a major channel that threatened public health and safety. Large drug shipments were disrupted, distribution networks were dismantled, and several online drug marketplaces were shut down.

Interestingly, this case demonstrates how blockchain technology, often perceived as anonymous, can actually be traced with the right tools — making it increasingly difficult for large-scale illegal operations to remain hidden over time.