Under the Rules of crypto-exchange trading, residents of Uzbekistan cannot buy digital currency. They are only allowed to sell crypto assets and tokens. This restriction does not apply to citizens of other countries. They have the right to buy and sell crypto assets, subject to their mandatory identification and the conclusion of official contracts with them.
Any anonymous transactions with cryptocurrency are prohibited in Uzbekistan. Also, crypto-assets cannot be used as a means of payment on the territory of Uzbekistan. The authorised body regulating transactions with cryptocurrency is the
National Agency for Project Management under the President of Uzbekistan (NAPU).
Only crypto exchanges that have received a license to operate in NAPU legally operate in Uzbekistan. This license is issued exclusively to foreign legal entities that have opened subsidiaries or other enterprises in Uzbekistan. Moreover, legal entities that are residents of Uzbekistan cannot participate in the authorised capitals (funds) of such enterprises.
Currently, there is only one crypto exchange operating in Uzbekistan, that have received a license at the end of December 2019 -
UzNEX. This is a project of the Korean company Kobea Group.
Despite strict legislation, mining of crypto assets is allowed in Uzbekistan. According to the legislation, for the implementation of industrial mining (over 100 kW/h), land plots are provided without an electronic auction in special territories. The list of such territories is determined by JSC "Uzbekenergo" and JSC "Uzbekhydroenergo" together with NAPU, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, the khokims of the regions and the city of Tashkent, respectively.
At the end of 2019, the Rules for the Use of Electric energy were supplemented by a clause that established separate
triple tariffs for miners.
In January 2020, the leadership of NAPU announced at a press conference that it would create a National Mining Pool, the tariffs in which would be generally established. The corresponding draft resolution was published on the NPA discussion portal in the same month. According to the draft resolution:
- industrial mining activities are subject to licensing, and private mining is subject to registration by obtaining the status of a Mining pool participant;
- membership in the Mining Pool for industrial and private miners is mandatory.