Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the President of Uzbekistan, has signed a new decree that broadens the country’s crypto regulatory framework. According to sources, the President’s National Agency for Project Management has been renamed as the National Agency for Perspective Projects (NAPP). As per the new decree, the NAPP will serve as the country’s primary crypto regulator.
NAPP will be responsible for enforcing state policy in the crypto economy while also protecting investors’ rights. It will also be in charge of bringing blockchain technology to the public sector and using cryptocurrencies to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and weapons proliferation.
In Uzbekistan, only registered companies will be permitted to mine bitcoin. During peak hours of use, mining farms will pay a higher electricity cost. Illegal mining will be outlawed. The regulation also prohibits the creation of “anonymous cryptocurrencies” and any transactions involving them.
Participants in a new regulatory sandbox that the NAPP will develop to trial crypto ventures will also receive tax incentives. Other responsibilities to the state budget will be waived for the entities engaging in the trials, including customs payments other than tariffs on imported hardware and software.
Several crypto-related terms, such as crypto mining and trading, are also defined in the new decree. According to the decree, crypto assets are defined as property rights that constitute a collection of digital records in a distributed ledger that have value and have an owner. Citizens and businesses in Uzbekistan will be able to purchase, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies through crypto service providers beginning January 1, 2023.
Digital asset exchanges, mining pools, crypto depositories, and crypto shops are among the companies listed in the President’s directive as being under this category. They will be forced to register as local firms and get government permits or mining certificates.
Crypto trading was authorised in Uzbekistan in 2018, but the government banned local citizens from acquiring crypto in late 2019.
Starting in November 2021, citizens will be allowed to trade crypto assets for national currency on regulated domestic crypto exchanges, while non-residents will be allowed to sell digital currencies for foreign fiat starting in November 2021. However, unauthorised mining and minting of “anonymous” cryptos is prohibited by decree.
