Uzbekistan Licenses 2 Crypto Exchange Service Providers – Exchange Bitcoin News

The regulatory body overseeing the crypto market in Uzbekistan has issued licenses to two companies to provide exchange services. The decision to authorize their activities aims to make it easier for Uzbeks to buy and sell digital currencies, the agency said.

2 crypto exchanges licensed to trade coins in Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan’s National Agency of Perspective Projects (NAPP) has granted licenses to two entities established to offer cryptocurrency exchange. Crypto Trade NET and Crypto Market are registered as “service providers in the field of trading of crypto assets,” the authority announced.

NAPP, which is under the presidency of Tashkent, is the main regulator of the Central Asian nation’s crypto sector. “The Republic of Uzbekistan is one of the few countries in the world that has a well-designed framework for regulating the circulation of cryptoassets,” the agency noted.

The regulator refers to several presidential decrees and resolutions issued to determine its responsibilities and develop the country’s digital economy, including the crypto space. They introduced rules for licensing businesses that deal with cryptocurrency.

Earlier this year, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a decree expanding the regulatory framework that provided legal definitions for cryptoassets, exchanges and mining. The government also adopted new registration rules for miners and introduced monthly fees for crypto companies.

While Uzbekistan already has one cryptocurrency exchange, the government-controlled Uznex, the two licensed companies will operate as digital money exchangers or “crypto shops” as defined by the regulations. “It should be emphasized that Crypto Trade NET LLC and Crypto Market LLC became the first crypto stores in the CIS and Central Asia,” NPP insisted, elaborating:

Crypto shops are designed to provide easier access for citizens to buy or sell crypto assets.

The National Agency of Perspective Projects also urged Uzbek citizens to “be as vigilant as possible” and avoid using the services of online trading platforms that are not licensed to operate in the country.

In August, the authority began restricting access to foreign-based crypto trading websites. The measures even affected well-known global platforms such as the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance. However, this month NAPP suspended Bestchange.ru, a popular exchange aggregator in Russia and the former Soviet space.

Do you think Uzbekistan will license more crypto service providers in the coming months? Tell us in the comments section below.

Lubomir Tassev

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Eastern Europe who likes Hitchens’ quote: “To be a writer is what I am, rather than what I do.” Besides crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.