Uzbekistan will increase fees for crypto operations
Uzbekistan's National Agency for Projects (NAPP) has issued new guidelines for increasing monthly fees for crypto market participants in the country. Ordered on Tuesday, March 19, 2024.
According to the official statement, the revised payment framework is an update to the guidelines launched by the Ministry of Justice in September 2022.
This change prompted the introduction of a new fee structure that would affect both entities following NAPP's assessment of “adequate profitability” in the cryptocurrency retail and exchange sectors.
Under the updated payment system, the monthly fee of crypto exchanges is expected to be 740 base reference value (BRV), 251.6 million Uzbekistan som ($20,015) – the country's fiat currency – a significant increase from the previous payment of 400 BRV or 136 million. Som ($10,819). BRV is primarily used to calculate various financial transactions including taxes, fees and fines.
In contrast, crypto retailers now face higher fees of 185 birr or 62.9 million som ($5,003) per month. Previously, the fee for crypto retailers was only 20 birr, which is around 6.8 million som ($540).
According to the NAPP, the reforms aim to increase government revenue from the crypto sector. The agency estimates that the revenue from this sector will double when the new structure is in place.
NAPP also assured that the revised rate structure will not affect the financial stability of industrial service providers. The new structure is expected to come into effect on June 20, three months after its official publication.
Related: Bitcoin mining limited to legal entities in Uzbekistan – regulators
The latest mandate follows closely after NAPP signed a memorandum of understanding with Statcoin issuer Tether.
Under the agreement, Tether will research, promote and promote blockchain-based innovations in Uzbekistan, including innovations such as stablecoins and digital asset tokens.
As of now, specific details of the collaboration have not been disclosed. However, Tether has announced plans to work with Uzbekistan's regulators to establish a legal and regulatory framework for crypto assets in the country.
This development also follows NAPP's plans to sue Binance. The agency alleged that Binance was operating without a license and had not paid the fines. Licensed exchanges are only allowed in Uzbekistan, with business servers mandated to be hosted locally.
The government of Uzbekistan has restricted crypto services to authorized cryptocurrency organizations since 2023. The first licenses were issued to domestic crypto companies in November 2022.
Before that, Uzbekistan restricted access to several international crypto exchanges, including Binance, FTX and Huobi, due to accusations of unauthorized activity.
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