“Regarding crypto-assets, I must say that the Central Bank, like all over the world, approaches the issue of crypto-assets conservatively. We do not consider cryptocurrency to be a valuable asset, and our attitude towards it is negative. And the fact that we have determined the existence of a crypto-exchange and its regulations do not allow our residents to directly participate in the purchase/sale of crypto-assets,” Mamarizo Nurmuratov said on January 26 during a press conference in Tashkent.

Later, on January 27, the National Agency for Perspective Projects of Uzbekistan reported that the above information provided by the head of the Central Bank is outdated and does not correspond to reality.

According to them, in accordance with the presidential decree “On the organization of the activities of the National Agency for Perspective Projects of the Republic of Uzbekistan”, the Agency has been designated as the authorized body for the development of the sphere of circulation of crypto-assets, licensing of activities and licensing procedures in this area.

Thus, the Central Bank is not an authorized body in the field of circulation of crypto-assets, and its managers and representatives are not entitled to make statements regarding the area not regulated by it.

In addition, the CB head, in his speech, speaking about the lack of the ability of local residents to directly participate in the purchase and sale of crypto-assets, cited outdated and unreliable information. In particular, by order of the director of the National Project Management Agency under the President dated December 6, 2019, amendments were made to the regulation on the procedure for licensing crypto-exchanges and the rules for crypto-exchange trading were approved. These rules provided that residents of the republic have the right to enter into crypto-exchanges exclusively transactions for the sale of crypto-assets and tokens.

Further, by order of the director of the National Project Management Agency dated November 11, 2021, amendments were made to the rules for the implementation of crypto-exchange trading, providing for the provision of residents of Uzbekistan with the right to carry out all types of crypto-exchange trading in crypto-assets and tokens for the national currency on crypto-exchanges, and also with non-residents, exclusively transactions for the sale of crypto-assets and tokens for foreign currency.

Subsequently, the above rules were declared invalid and replaced by the rules for trading in crypto-assets on a crypto-exchange, paragraph 5 of which established that residents have the right to carry out on the electronic platform of a crypto-exchange all types of trading in crypto-assets on a crypto-exchange for the national currency, in including transactions for the sale and purchase of crypto-assets on the direct trading platform, as well as with non-residents of the Republic of Uzbekistan, exclusively transactions for the sale of crypto-assets for foreign currency.

“Given the foregoing, the National Agency for Perspective Projects strongly recommends that representatives of the media, as well as government agencies, not disseminate false information. In connection with the characteristic features of the sphere of circulation of crypto-assets and in order to avoid misunderstandings, the agency asks for clarifications and information on the circulation of crypto-assets in the republic to contact the agency directly in the prescribed manner,” the Agency concluded.