Uzbekistan President Issues Decree Regulating Cryptocurrencies, Mining and Trading – Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the head of state of Uzbekistan, has signed a new decree that broadens the country’s crypto regulatory framework. Its claimed mission is to advance digital technologies, provide favorable conditions for entrepreneurship, and strengthen digital legislation.
According to Forklog, which cited the document, the president’s National Agency for Project Management has been renamed the National Agency for Perspective Projects. The NAPP will serve as the country’s primary crypto watchdog.
The regulatory body has been 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.
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Crypto assets are defined as property rights that constitute a number of digital records in a distributed ledger which have value and an owner, according to the decree.
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, crypto stores, and mining pools are among the companies listed in the President’s directive as being under this category. They would be required to register as local firms and get government permits or mining certificates.
Crypto trading was authorized in Uzbekistan in 2018, but the government restricted local residents from purchasing cryptocurrency in late 2019. They had no choice but to sell.
Citizens were permitted to trade crypto assets for national currency on regulated domestic crypto exchanges in November 2021, while non-residents were allowed to trade digital currencies for foreign fiat in November 2021.
In Uzbekistan, only registered companies would be able to mine cryptocurrency. During peak hours of consumption, mining farms would pay a higher electricity tariff. Illegal mining will be outlawed. The regulation also prohibits the creation of “anonymous cryptocurrencies as well as any transactions involving them.
Uzbek citizens would be unable to use or receive cryptocurrencies as a form of payment for products and services within the country, as they were previously. On the plus side, according to the agreement dated April 27, 2022, crypto-related transactions of businesses and individuals would not be taxed.
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Participants in a new regulatory sandbox that the NAPP would develop to pilot crypto projects will also receive tax incentives. Other obligations to the state budget will be waived for the entities engaging in the trials, including customs payments other than duties on imported hardware and software.
