Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Uzbekistan ranks first in Central Asia and the Caucasus in terms of cryptocurrency adoption.
According to the latest market research on digital financial assets (DFA) in the region, conducted by RISE Research in collaboration with Freedom Horizons and other organizations, Uzbekistan topped the regional rankings and placed 33rd globally in cryptocurrency adoption.
The turnover of licensed cryptocurrency service providers in Uzbekistan has exceeded US$1 billion, with more than US$3.6 million in revenue generated for the national budget since 2022.
As of October 2024, there are 15 licensed cryptocurrency service providers operating in the country, indicating growing interest and activity in the market.
The research involved over 35 interviews with key experts in the cryptocurrency field. The authors analyzed and compared the development of the cryptocurrency industry across five countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus, traced the chronology of regulatory developments in the region, created an ecosystem participant map, and examined key global and regional trends.
Denis Filippov, CEO of Mastercard in Uzbekistan, highlighted that the country is creating a favorable environment for the development of cryptocurrency assets and blockchain technologies, which have the potential to stimulate economic growth, improve access to financial services, and offer alternatives to traditional financial instruments.
Kairat Kaliev, CEO of Freedom Horizons, added that the region has already established a legal framework supporting cryptocurrency trading and the development of new business models on blockchain.
Since the implementation of legal regulations in 2023, Uzbekistan has significantly improved its position in the global ranking.
The National Agency for Prospective Projects of Uzbekistan oversees and manages the circulation of cryptocurrency assets in the country.
Uzbekistan residents can only buy and sell cryptocurrency assets through national service providers, and all cryptocurrency transactions are exempt from taxation.
"Uzbekistan has created a comprehensive regulatory framework covering licensing and the activities of service providers, anti-money laundering (AML) efforts, tokenization, mining, and cryptocurrency circulation. This regulatory framework provides clear operating conditions for service providers and cryptocurrency owners, making Uzbekistan number one in cryptocurrency adoption in Central Asia," emphasized Yerke Assemova, Deputy Director of the Strategy and Operational Efficiency Group at KPMG Caucasus and Central Asia.
The attractiveness of Uzbekistan for the crypto business is further confirmed by the existence of several innovative projects within the regulatory sandbox, including cryptocurrency bank cards, NFT certificates for domain names, and the universal distributed ledger "Token.uz."
The cryptocurrency ecosystem in Uzbekistan includes over 20 organizations, including the largest cryptocurrency company, Tether, which signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Agency for Prospective Projects.
"Experts involved in the research note the growing interest from global institutional players in the crypto market towards Uzbekistan, the free access of licensed crypto businesses to banking services and fiat transactions related to cryptocurrency, the favorable environment for crypto business in Uzbekistan, tokenization opportunities, as well as the development of applied tools that can be useful even outside the traditional crypto community," summarized Artem Klimenko, co-founder and CEO of Heemera.