No, Hamster Combat is not illegal in Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan's regulators haven't banned citizens from playing Hamster Kombat's clicker game on Telegram, but withdrawing in-game coins could be a problem.
Uzbekistan's National Projects Agency (NAPP), the chief regulator of the e-commerce and cryptocurrency industry, issued a notice on June 25 clarifying the legal status of the Hamster Kombat game.
Hamster Kombat coins are not cryptocurrencies at least for now
In the statement, NAPP emphasized that Hamster Kombat is not a typical game-to-find game, as the in-game coins do not have a container or real utility.
On the other hand, in pay-to-play games, players are rewarded with assets that have real-world monetary value and can be traded, such as cryptocurrencies or intangible tokens (NFT).
For example, in a game like Axie Infinity, players can collect Axies – collectible creatures that can be used to fight others in the game or trade them in marketplaces.
According to NAPP, residents of Uzbekistan are free to play the Hamster Kombat game and collect in-game tokens because they are not actual cryptocurrencies and are not based on the blockchain. Hamster Combat Tokens are also beyond the scope of NAPP regulation for that reason.
“However, the Hamster Kombat coins can be transferred to the blockchain in the future, so they can become a crypto asset,” the official explained.
Selling Hamster Combat Tokens can be problematic.
While tapping and collecting tokens in the Hamster Kombat game is not illegal in Uzbekistan, selling in-game tokens can be problematic for many due to local regulations.
According to the NAPP, Hamster Combat players are only allowed to sell their in-game tokens after the underlying token is approved as a cryptocurrency and listed on a regulated national exchange.
“However, many times such crypto-assets do not have useful functions, so their value decreases in a short period of time after the listing,” NAPP added.
The next Notcoin?
Launched in March 2024, Hamster Combat is a Telegram-based point-and-click game where players take on the role of a CEO who runs a virtual cryptocurrency exchange. The game quickly went viral among mobile users, hitting 9 million followers on X in June.
Hamster Kombat is often referred to as “the next notcoin” because it is both a Telegram-based clicker game and part of the growing The Open Network (TON) ecosystem. NotCoin has become one of the most successful games in the Ton ecosystem, gathering 11.5 million owners since its listing in mid-May 2024.
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The news comes just days after a local Uzbek-MDK news outlet reported that Uzbek prosecutors are trying to confiscate Hamster Mbat players' in-game tokens.
Earlier, the local court sentenced a 24-year-old man to 10 days of administrative detention for selling NotCoin (NOT) tokens at a price of 800,000 Uzbek soms at $63.
According to local reports, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was seen in Uzbekistan in June. Some insiders say his visit may be related to discussions with regulators about the legal status of the ton ecosystem in the country.
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