Uzbekistan Residents Urged Not to Use ‘Unofficial’ Bitcoin Exchanges

The National Agency for Project Management (NAPU) under the President of Uzbekistan announced the activation of work by “unofficial” platforms for trading and exchanging cryptocurrencies.

“Such platforms offer citizens the ability to exchange, sell, or acquire crypto assets, and they often request personal data, but they do not have server capacity on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan and their addresses are registered in other countries,” the agency said.

As examples of such platforms, NAPU cited the sites WebmoneyTashkent.com, wmztashkent.com, wm-torg.com, uzwmz.com, blockchainuz.com and bitcointashkent.com.

The agency noted that such platforms do not bear legal responsibility for cryptocurrency transactions and do not guarantee the legality of deals, as well as the confidentiality of personal data.

NAPU urged not to use the services of such platforms and stressed that activity in Uzbekistan’s cryptocurrency market is subject to licensing.

ForkLog explained to NAPU that official platforms are those that have obtained the relevant permit and operate in accordance with Uzbekistan’s legislation.

Since 2019, residents of the country have been prohibited from buying crypto assets and using them as a means of payment.

In April, NAPU proposed allowing residents of Uzbekistan to acquire cryptocurrencies on an exchange, but this option has not yet been implemented.

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