The Uzbekistan authorities have placed a ban on the purchase of cryptocurrencies in the country as per the report published by local news outlet on Dec. 25.
This decision was made by the country’s regulatory body, the National Project Management Agency, stating that Uzbekistan citizens are forbidden from purchasing cryptocurrencies even from cryptocurrency exchanges that are officially recognized in the country.
However, this new regulation gave room for citizens who are already holders of cryptocurrency wallets to conduct transactions on just two licensed platforms and they have to be above 18 years to do so.
In a bid to prevent the issue of money laundering, the individuals have to go through several identification processes before they can be able to sell their cryptocurrencies.
This ban on cryptocurrency purchases came as a shock to citizens because the authorities have never been so strongly against digital currencies. In fact, they are quite in support of blockchain technology and had on many occasions made it clear that it can go a long way to “increase the transparency of the economy and government.”
The country’s president, Shavkat Mirzivoyev, had earlier in July 2018 signed a decree that integrated the blockchain technology into Uzbekistan’s administrative sector.
Some financial regulators across the world are recently taking a negative stand against the crypto industry. The financial regulators in Russia are reportedly planning to place a ban on the use of cryptocurrencies for payment of goods and services.
India is another anti-crypto country. Although the current state of cryptocurrency in the country is not yet clear, authorities are against the use of digital currency and have prohibited banks and customers from dealing with cryptos.
In January 2019, Coinfomania reported that Indian Banks were forcefully asking customers to sign an undertaken that they will never transact with cryptocurrencies before operating a bank account.
