Regulators in Uzbekistan have proposed new legislation, which dictates that crypto companies in the country would be required to pay a fee to the state.
The charges will depend on the business activity of the company in question and can go as high as $11,000 per month where digital asset exchanges are concerned.
If the companies fail to pay this fee, their licenses can be suspended.
New law
A new law has been adopted by authorities in Uzbekistan according to which crypto entities will have to make special contributions to the nation’s budget.
The main crypto regulatory body in Uzbekistan had put forward the new legislation which was put into effect after it was registered with the Ministry of Justice, as per requirements.
The National Agency of Perspective Projects (NAPP) authored the bill in question under the President of Uzbekistan.
It dictates that licensed crypto companies would be required to pay certain charges on a monthly basis. They have established different rates for the different categories of crypto operators.
For instance, the highest tariff will be charged from operators of crypto exchanges, which is around 120 million Uzbekistani soum, or $11,000.
As for crypto stores, they will be charged $540. Individual miners will be asked to pay $270 per month and mining pools will have to pay the government $2,700 each month.
At the same time, the lowest fee will be charged from custodial service providers at $135 a month.
The consequences
One of the provisions of the new law mentions that the license will be suspended if the company does not pay their fee within a month’s time.
In addition, their license will be canceled altogether if they do not pay the fee for at least two months in a year’s time.
20% of each monthly payment will be taken by the NAPP, while the remaining amount will be added to the government’s coffers.
Crypto regulation
The authorities in Uzbekistan have been very active this year in their efforts for regulating the crypto economy of the country, which is growing rather rapidly.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev also signed a decree back in spring for expanding the regulatory framework that has been developed for the digital currency market of the Central Asian country.
This comprised legal definitions for crypto assets, mining, and exchange and also authorized the NAPP to oversee the digital assets market.
A set of new registration rules had also been presented by the government of Tashkent back in June that would be applicable to companies engaged in crypto mining.
According to the rules, the mining operators were required to use renewable energy for minting digital coins.
There had also been an increase in the number of online platforms that were offering crypto services in Uzbekistan without a license.
This prompted the NAPP to take steps for blocking the access of the country’s residents to foreign crypto exchange websites back in August.
Other Central Asian nations are also working on their respective crypto regulatory frameworks due to their widespread adoption.