Uzbekistan Tightens Noose on Cryptocurrency Market

To further promote the decentralized environment, Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, in an April 27 proclamation, has designated the Perspective Projects Agency to serve as the country’s regulating body for crypto. There will be new crypto-centered regulations put in place to combat money laundering and terrorist funding, according to an order from the Perspective Projects Agency.

As per Mirziyoyev, cryptocurrency exchanges and custodians, as well as mining facilities, must enroll themselves with the Central Asian nation. Uzbekistan citizens will be permitted to utilize crypto-only on domestic exchanges beginning on Jan. 1, 2023, as per a regulation, which states that all transaction records from the last five years must be maintained, as well as verifying users’ identities via a know-your-customer (KYC) procedure.

The legislation for cryptocurrency miners mandates that they exclusively utilize solar electricity generated by power plants. If the national grid is taken over by miners, the charges will quadruple. The president of the nation will be in charge of appointing the agency’s chief executive. While preparing this report, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) had lost 1.10% and 1.70% to trade at $38,109 and $2,797, respectively. Switzerland’s central bank said last month-end that it may begin purchasing bitcoin in the future.