Uzbekistan's NAPP Increases Monthly Fees for Crypto Market, Expects Doubling State Revenue
Summary:
Uzbekistan's National Agency for Prospective Projects (NAPP) has amended its regulation to significantly raise monthly fees for cryptocurrency market participants. The new directive revises a 2022 directive from the Ministry of Justice and comes after an evaluation of profitability within the cryptocurrency retail and exchange sectors. Under this financial reshuffling, both crypto exchanges and retailers face hefty fee increases. NAPP expects this move to double state revenue from the crypto sector, while maintaining the financial stability of industry service providers. This follows a recent NAPP agreement with Tether, aiming to promote blockchain-based innovations. The revised fees will take effect from June 20, 2024.
The National Agency for Prospective Projects (NAPP) of Uzbekistan has enforced an updated directive, mandating a steeper monthly charge for cryptocurrency market stakeholders in the nation. This regulation, made public on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, modifies a previous directive by the Ministry of Justice from September 2022. The adjustment was informed by the NAPP's evaluation of the "adequate profitability" across the domains of cryptocurrency retail and exchange, resulting in the restructuring of the fee convention for both.
In this revised system, cryptocurrency exchanges are held accountable for a monthly fee of 740 Basis Reference Value (BRV), translating to approximately 251.6 million in Uzbekistan som (UZS), which is the local currency ($20,015). This is a massive hike from the previous charge of 400 BRV or around UZS 136 million ($10,819). The BRV is a key tool for determining various fiscal transactions, including taxes, charges, and penalties.
Meanwhile, the fees for cryptocurrency retail businesses has seen a massive increase to 185 BRV, roughly UZS 62.9 million ($5,003). Earlier, these firms were charged just 20 BRV, roughly UZS 6.8 million ($540) per month.
The NAPP asserts that these changes aim to significantly augment the nation's revenue from the cryptocurrency sector, anticipating the revenue to essentially double under the restructured system. They assure that this revised pricing will not destabilize the financial stability of sector service providers. This directive is expected to be enforceable starting June 20, three months post its official announcement.
This recent decree comes after NAPP's Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tether, the stablecoin issuer. As part of this agreement, Tether will support the expansion and endorsement of blockchain-centric innovations in Uzbekistan, including stablecoins and digital tokenization of assets.
While the specificities of this partnership remain undisclosed, Tether has demonstrated intentions to work alongside Uzbekistan's regulatory bodies to devise a legal and prescriptive structure for cryptocurrency assets in the country.
This news comes in the heels of NAPP's legal action against Binance from a month ago, accusing the latter of functioning without a requisite license and unpaid penalties. Licensed exchanges are the only entities legally allowed to operate in Uzbekistan, with a requirement to host trading servers domestically.
Since 2023, the government of Uzbekistan has restricted the delivery of cryptocurrency services to licensed cryptocurrency firms. The initial licenses were extended to local cryptocurrency companies in November, 2022. Prior to this, Uzbekistan had barred access to several large international cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance, FTX, and Huobi, due to allegations of unlicensed operations.
Published At
3/20/2024 5:02:51 PM
Disclaimer: Algoine does not endorse any content or product on this page. Readers should conduct their own research before taking any actions related to the asset, company, or any information in this article and assume full responsibility for their decisions. This article should not be considered as investment advice. Our news is prepared with AI support.
Do you suspect this content may be misleading, incomplete, or inappropriate in any way, requiring modification or removal?
We appreciate your report.