The authorities of Uzbekistan have imposed a fine of 102 million Uzbekistani soms (8,200 US dollars) on the cryptocurrency exchange Binance for conducting operations without the necessary license. The National Agency for Combating Money Laundering, Financing of Terrorism, and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (NAPF) of Uzbekistan states that Binance, not being a legal entity in Uzbekistan, provided cryptocurrency trading services to the country's citizens.
Since 2019, Uzbekistan has had a ban on using cryptocurrency for payment of services. Furthermore, NAPF claims that the cryptocurrency exchange violated Uzbekistan's laws related to combating the legalization of income from criminal activities, financing of terrorism, and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
As of now, Binance has not commented on this decision. In Uzbekistan, penalties of 300 times the basic calculated amount (approximately 8,150 US dollars) are imposed for illegal activities related to cryptocurrency turnover or obtaining licenses using falsified documents. For mining without the necessary license or obtaining permission with counterfeit documents, the fine will be 150 times the basic calculated amount (approximately 4,075 US dollars).
It is important to note that recently, the government of Uzbekistan allowed private banks Ravnaq Bank and Kapital Bank to issue virtual cryptocurrency cards and issued the first license for the operation of a crypto depository to the subsidiary of the brokerage firm Lockton Solution LLC-FZ from the UAE.
