Uzbekistan’s National Agency for Prospective Projects (NAPP) has issued a new directive that aims to increase the monthly fees for participants in the country’s crypto market. The directive, issued on March 19, 2024, is an amendment to a previous directive initiated by the Ministry of Justice in September 2022.
According to the official statement, the decision to revise the fee framework was made after the NAPP assessed the profitability of the cryptocurrency retail and exchange sectors. As a result, a new fee structure has been introduced that will impact both entities.
Under the updated fee system, crypto exchanges will now be required to pay a monthly fee of 740 basis reference value (BRV), which is equivalent to 251.6 million Uzbekistani som ($20,015). This marks a significant increase from the previous fee of 400 BRV or 136 million som ($10,819). The BRV is primarily used to calculate financial transactions, including taxes, fees, and fines.
On the other hand, crypto retailers will face a much higher fee of 185 BRV per month, or 62.9 million som ($5,003). This is a substantial increase from the previous fee of just 20 BRV, which amounted to around 6.8 million som ($540).
The main objective of these modifications, according to the NAPP, is to enhance state revenue from the cryptocurrency sector. The agency expects the revenue generated from this sector to double once the new fee structure is implemented. Additionally, the NAPP has assured that the updated pricing structure will not have a negative impact on the financial stability of industry service providers. The new fee structure will officially come into effect on June 20, three months after its publication.
In related news, the NAPP recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with stablecoin issuer Tether. The agreement aims to explore and promote blockchain-based innovations in Uzbekistan, including stablecoins and digital asset tokenization. While specific details of the partnership have not been disclosed, Tether has expressed its intention to collaborate with Uzbekistan’s regulators to establish a legal and regulatory framework for crypto assets in the country.
This development follows the NAPP’s plans to take legal action against Binance. The agency alleges that Binance operates without a license and has not paid the fines that are due. In Uzbekistan, only licensed exchanges are permitted, and trading servers must be hosted domestically. The government has restricted the provision of crypto services to licensed cryptocurrency firms since 2023, with the first licenses being granted to local crypto firms in November 2022. Prior to that, access to several major international crypto exchanges, including Binance, FTX, and Huobi, was restricted due to allegations of unlicensed activity.
In the midst of these developments, there have been speculations about the involvement of the NSA in the creation of Bitcoin. However, these claims remain unverified and speculative.