On measures to devolep the digital economy and the sphere of crypto-assets turnover in the Republic of Uzbekistan (RP-3832-son)

03.07.2018

Resolution

Of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan

The state is taking large-scale measures to develop the digital sector of the economy. Electronic document management systems are being introduced, electronic payments are being developed, and the regulatory framework in the field of electronic commerce is being improved.

The digital economy functioning on information technology platforms is developing at an intensive speed rate, which necessitates the creation of new models of such platforms.

Distributed ledger technology, “Artificial Intelligence”, the use of the capabilities of supercomputers, as well as activities on crypto-assets are one of the directions for the development of the digital economy in many countries of the world. Distributed ledger technology is gradually being introduced not only into many sectors of the economybut also into the public administration system and other public relations.

In order to further improve the public administration system, create conditions for the introduction and development of the digital economy, improve the investment environment, as well as implement the Action Strategy in five priority areas for the development of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2017 — 2021:

1. The most important tasks for further improvement of the sphere of crypto-assets turnover shall be:

activities in the field of circulation of crypto-assets, including mining, smart contracts (electronic-form contracts providing for the fulfillment of rights and obligations through the automatic execution of digital transactions), consulting, issuance, exchange, custody, distribution, management and insurance, as well as the introduction and development of distributed ledger technologies, for the diversification of various forms of investment and entrepreneurial activities;

training of qualified personnel in the field of development and use of distributed ledger technology with practical skills in working with modern information and communication technologies;

comprehensive development of cooperation with international and foreign organizations in the field of crypto-assets and distributed ledger technology, attracting highly qualified foreign specialists in the development of distributed ledger technology for the joint implementation of projects in the digital economy;

creation of the necessary legal framework for the implementation of distributed ledger technology, taking into account the best practices of foreign countries;

ensuring close interaction between state bodies and business entities in the field of introducing innovative ideas, technologies and developments for further development of the digital economy.

2. It shall be established that:

specific areas of activity in which distributed ledger technologies are being introduced are determined by the National Agency of Perspective Projects of the Republic of Uzbekistan (hereinafter referred to as the Agency) on the basis of proposals of interested ministries and departments;

draft regulations and technical terms of reference aimed at the development of the sphere of crypto-assets turnover and the introduction of distributed ledger technology are subject to mandatory examination by the Agency;

the crypto-assets turnover is regulated by special regulatory legal acts;

operations of legal entities and individuals related to the turnover of crypto-assets, including those carried out by non-residents, are not subject to taxation, and the income received from these operations is not included in the taxable base for taxes and other obligatory payments;

foreign exchange transactions related to the turnover of crypto-assets, carried out by persons who have received under the established procedure a license to carry out activities in the sphere of crypto-assets turnover, are not subject to the norms of legislation on currency regulation.

3. It shall be established that:

a) a crypto-asset is a property right, which is a set of digital records in a distributed data registry, which has a value and an owner;

b) the types of activities in the sphere of crypto-assets turnover are:

mining;

activities of service providers in the sphere of crypto-assets turnover (hereinafter referred to as the service providers);

v) mining means activities involving the maintenance of a distributed ledger, creation and verification of the integrity of blocks through the performance of computational operations.

Mining shall be carried out only by a legal entity using electricity generated by solar photovoltaic power plants, except for mining carried out within the territory of the “Besqala Mining Valley” special mining zone.

Where electricity is consumed while being connected to the unified electricity system:

payments for consumed electricity shall be made in accordance with a coefficient that increases the established tariff twofold, except for the cases provided for in Annex 1 to Presidential Decree No. DP-189 of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated October 22, 2025 “On Additional Measures to Further Develop Artificial Intelligence Technologies”;

surcharges determined by the Cabinet of Ministers shall be applied to the applicable tariffs for electricity consumed during peak periods;

the consumed electricity shall be metered using a separate meter.

Mining shall be subject to mandatory registration with the Agency and shall not constitute a licensed type of activity.

Persons engaged in mining (miners) shall be required to register in accordance with the procedure established by legislative acts.

Registration of miners shall be carried out exclusively in electronic form through the Internet.

Miners shall carry out their activities only at the address indicated at the time of registration, in compliance with fire safety and sanitary norms and rules.

d) service providers provide services for individuals or legal entities, including on their behalf, for the purchase, sale and (or) exchange, storage, release, placement and management of crypto-assets.

Service providers can only be legal entities — residents of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Types of service providers:

crypto-exchange — an organization that provides an electronic platform for the purchase, sale and (or) exchange of crypto-assets;

mining pool — an organization that provides an electronic platform for the consolidation of computing power to support the mining process;

crypto-depository — an organization that provides an electronic platform and (or) a set of technical and software tools for the provision of services for the issuance of crypto-assets, their initial placement and storage;

crypto-shop — an organization that provides an electronic platform and (or) a set of technical and software tools for the provision of services for the purchase and (or) sale of crypto-assets;

other types of service providers determined by the decisions of the Agency;

d) starting from January 1, 2023, citizens and legal entities of the Republic of Uzbekistan shall carry out transactions for the purchase, sale and/or exchange of crypto-assets exclusively through national providers in accordance with the established procedure, except for cases established by legislative acts;

f) The Agency shall establish the procedure for:

licensing and other permissive procedures in the sphere of crypto-assets turnover;

the issue, registration of issue, and crypto-assets turnover by residents of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

g) the amount and procedure for paying the state fees for issuing a license to carry out activities in the sphere of crypto-assets turnover are determined by the Agency;

h) the entire amount of the state fees for issuing a license to carry out activities in the sphere of crypto-assets turnover is credited to the personal account of the licensing authority;

i) the licensing requirements and conditions imposed on the activities of service providers shall include:

the availability of an electronic platform and/or a set of technical and software tools located on servers within the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

retaining for five years information on all transactions involving crypto-assets, identification data of platform participants, materials relating to the relations between service providers and platform participants (including between platform participants), including business correspondence;

compliance with the requirements of the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the field of circulation of crypto-assets, combating legalization of proceeds from criminal activities, financing of terrorism and financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, as well as storage and use of personal data;

compliance with the requirements established for advertising in the field of circulation of crypto-assets, including the prohibition on making promises regarding the effectiveness (profitability) of activities involving the use of crypto-assets, disseminating information that concluding transactions with crypto-assets is an easy way to become wealthy, and the prohibition on the use of crypto-assets as a means of payment or means of accepting payment in the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan, except in cases established by legislative acts;

not carrying out transactions involving anonymous crypto-assets;

providing, free of charge, information related to the operation of the platform upon request of the authorized body;

coordinating with the licensing authority the sale of a share in the charter capital of the licensee to individuals and legal entities, including non-residents;

coordinating with the licensing authority the replacement of the management of the licensee (director and deputy directors), as well as the head of the structural unit responsible for combating the legalization of proceeds from criminal activities, terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and financing thereof;

other requirements in accordance with legislative acts.

The following shall constitute additional licensing requirements and conditions imposed on crypto-exchanges:

quoting crypto-assets based on supply and demand for them;

having, as of the date of submission of the application, a charter fund (capital) formed in cash in an amount of at least five thousand times the basic calculation amount, of which three thousand times the basic calculation amount shall be reserved in a separate account with a commercial bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

j) the functions of monitoring the activities of service providers in terms of their compliance with legal acts on combating the legalization of proceeds from crime, the financing of terrorism and the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are assigned to the body licensing the activities of service providers and the relevant authorized state bodies;

k) the charter capital of service providers is formed exclusively from the funds and other property of its founders. The use of funds received on credit or secured, and other attracted funds for the formation of the charter capital of service providers is not allowed;

l) for the implementation of activities in the sphere of crypto-assets turnover, legal entities pay fees. Fees are distributed between the State Budget of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Agency.

The amount of fees, the procedure for their payment and distribution are carried out in accordance with the procedure approved by the Agency together with the Ministry of Finance and the State Tax Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

m) legal entities shall pay a fee for carrying out activities in the field of circulation of crypto-assets. The fees shall be distributed between the State Budget of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Agency, except in cases provided for by legislative acts.

The amount of the fees, their payment and distribution shall be carried out in accordance with the procedure approved by the Agency jointly with the Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Tax Committee;

n) if facts of illegal connection of persons engaged in mining to the unified energy system are revealed, the established tariff is applied to them with a multiplying factor of 5;

o) licenses for the operation of crypto-exchanges issued before January 1, 2022, are re-issued taking into account the requirements of this resolution, without the collection of state duties and fees.

4. The following shall be permitted:

a) to service providers:

to receive remuneration for services rendered, including in the form of crypto-assets, and to determine the amount thereof and the procedure for collecting such remuneration from clients;

to organize transactions with residents and non-residents of the Republic of Uzbekistan aimed at the purchase and/or alienation of crypto-assets for national and foreign currencies, as well as the exchange of crypto-assets for other crypto-assets;

b) crypto-shops shall, when carrying out their activities exclusively through an electronic platform, be permitted to hold their clientsʼ funds for the period established by the Agency, starting from the moment the transaction is carried out and the relevant record is entered in the distributed ledger;

v) miners shall be granted the right to sell crypto-assets obtained as a result of mining and/or exchange them for other crypto-assets through national crypto-exchanges or foreign platforms, including under direct contracts, in accordance with the established procedure. In this case, crypto-assets obtained as a result of mining may be exchanged for other highly liquid crypto-assets and subsequently sold through national crypto-exchanges or foreign platforms, including under direct contracts. Proceeds from the sale of crypto-assets obtained as a result of mining (including those exchanged for other highly liquid crypto-assets) shall be mandatorily transferred to bank accounts in the Republic of Uzbekistan.

5. The following procedure shall be established:

a) the Republic of Uzbekistan shall be recognized as the place of a transaction involving crypto-assets (hereinafter referred to as a “transaction”) when at least two of the following criteria are met simultaneously:

one of the parties to the transaction is a resident (individual or legal entity) of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

the transaction is carried out within the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

the transaction is carried out using an IP address registered in the Republic of Uzbekistan and/or a mobile telephone number with the international country code of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

settlements under the transaction are made using a bank card issued by a commercial bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan, or payment processing and clearing are carried out within the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

the services for carrying out the transaction are intended for clients residing in the Republic of Uzbekistan, including where such services are provided or advertised in the state language;

b) the Agency shall be granted the following powers:

to inspect the activities of foreign legal entities (hereinafter referred to as “foreign legal entities”) illegally providing services in the field of circulation of crypto-assets to residents of the Republic of Uzbekistan. In this case, the legislative acts governing state supervision over the activities of business entities of the Republic of Uzbekistan shall not apply to such inspections;

to impose fines on foreign legal entities for violations of legislative acts in the field of circulation of crypto-assets. In this case, 50 percent of the fine shall be transferred to the account of the licensing authority.

6. It is prohibited to:

a) service providers shall not be managed by:

persons who have participated or are suspected of participating in terrorist activities or the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;

persons who are suspected or convicted of committing economic crimes, as well as crimes involving the legalization of proceeds from criminal activities, financing of terrorism and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, organized crime, illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, corruption and crimes related to information technologies, and whose conviction has not been expunged or served;

persons who permanently reside, stay or are registered in States that do not participate in international cooperation in the field of combating the legalization of proceeds from criminal activities, financing of terrorism and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;

b) the charter fund of service providers shall not include participation by:

the persons specified in subparagraph "a" of this paragraph;

companies registered in States that do not participate in international cooperation in the field of combating the legalization of proceeds from criminal activities, financing of terrorism and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;

v) the use of crypto-assets as a means of payment or means of accepting payment in the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan, except in cases established by legislative acts;

d) implement covert mining (activities for the implementation of mining on the computing power of third parties without their knowledge or consent using special software) and mining of anonymous crypto-assets (crypto-assets operating on the principle of anonymity).

7. The Agency, taking into account the requirements of this resolution, shall ensure:

a) adoption and implementation of the Regulations on licensing the activities of service providers in the sphere of crypto-assets turnover, the Regulations on the procedure for registering the mining of crypto-assets, the Regulations on the procedure for issuing, registering the issue and turnover of crypto-assets by residents of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Regulations on the procedure for registering participants of Special Regulatory Regime in the Sphere of Crypto Assets Turnover (Special Regulatory Sandbox Regime);

b) together with interested ministries and departments, submit proposals to the Administration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan on amendments and additions to the laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan On State Fees and On Licensing, Permitting and Notifying Procedures.

8. The responsibility to execute control over the implementation of the present resolution shall be assigned the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan A.N. Aripov and Director of the National Agency of Perspective Projects of the Republic of Uzbekistan D.R. Lee.

President of the Republic of Uzbekistan SH. MIRZIYOYEV

Tashkent city,

July 3, 2018

No. RP-3832