Bitcoin · BTC$81,375▼ 2.9%
Ethereum · ETH$2,426▼ 4.6%
USD / RUBRUB 83.9▼ 1.2%
EUR / RUBRUB 94.0▼ 1.0%
USD / UZSUZS 11,899.09▲ 0.0%
EUR / UZSUZS 13,298.42▼ 0.3%
Gold · PAXG$4,160▼ 1.0%
BTC dominance59.3%
All rates →
Learn · Regulation

Crypto Fines in Uzbekistan: Articles, Amounts and 2026 Cases

Trading crypto outside licensed providers can bring detention of up to 15 days or a fine of 8.8–13.2 million soums under Article 155-4 of the Code of Administrative Liability, and in 2026 the Interior Ministry opened criminal cases under Article 278-8 of the Criminal Code — including one over 9 billion soums of trading on Binance. The texts of the articles, the amounts, the cases and the legal route to Binance as of 24 September 2026.

· 7 min read · Sogdium Editorial
A smartphone with an exchange app next to a judge’s gavel and a stack of legal codes with turquoise bookmarks — illustration for an article on crypto fines in Uzbekistan

In brief: a crypto fine in Uzbekistan applies to buying, selling or exchanging crypto assets outside licensed national providers — for example, directly on Binance or in P2P chats. Under part 1 of Article 155-4 of the Code of Administrative Liability, this means detention of up to 15 days or, for persons to whom detention does not apply, a fine of 20–30 BCV — 8.8–13.2 million soums at a base calculation value (BCV) of 440,000 soums (from 1 September 2026 under Presidential Decree PF-115 of 23 June 2026, lex.uz) — with confiscation of the crypto assets and the instruments of the offense. Part 1 of Article 278-8 of the Criminal Code covers the same acts "committed after an administrative penalty has been imposed" (translated from Russian) (up to 100 BCV, or 44 million soums, or up to a year of deprivation of liberty), and parts 2–3 cover the same acts, including on a large or especially large scale: up to 3 years and 3 to 5 years of deprivation of liberty. Both articles were introduced by Law No. ZRU-899 of 19 January 2024 and have applied since 20 April 2024. According to an Interior Ministry report of 13 September 2026, as relayed by Daryo and Spot, a case was opened under paragraph (a) of part 3 of Article 278-8 over trading on Binance worth more than 9 billion soums — an especially large scale, which starts at 220 million soums at a BCV of 440,000 soums.

What a user is allowed to do and what is prohibited

The core rule is sub-paragraph (e) of paragraph 3 of Presidential Resolution PQ-3832 of 3 July 2018 (as amended by PQ-143, effective 20 April 2026, lex.uz): since 1 January 2023, citizens and legal entities buy, sell and exchange crypto assets "exclusively through national service providers in accordance with the established procedure, except in cases provided for by legislative acts" (translated from Russian).

ActionStatusProvision
Transactions with a licensed providerpermittedPQ-3832, para. 3(e)
Direct trading inside a licensed exchangepermittedpara. 5 of Trading Rules No. 3379 (NAPP order No. 33 of 18 July 2022, registered and in force since 15 August 2022, no amendments), lex.uz
Exchanging NFTs for other crypto assets on a foreign exchangepermitted; the crypto assets received "are sold on the electronic platforms of service providers"para. 6 of Rules No. 3379
Binance via the COINPAY linkpermittedNAPP, 29 January 2025
Binance P2P, P2P chats, a foreign exchange directlya violation, except in cases provided for by legislative actsPQ-3832, para. 3(e); NAPP, 29 January 2025; Article 155-4, Code of Administrative Liability
Holding a crypto assetno direct prohibition (checked: PQ-3832 as amended by PQ-143, ZRU-899, NAPP FAQ as of 24 September 2026)PQ-3832, para. 3(a): a property right "having value and an owner"
Transfers between your own walletsno direct rule (checked: PQ-3832 as amended by PQ-143, ZRU-899, NAPP FAQ as of 24 September 2026)—

The scope of the check behind the last two rows is PQ-3832 (as amended by PQ-143), ZRU-899 and the NAPP FAQ as of 24 September 2026. Transfers are not named in Article 155-4, but reports on 2026 cases citing the Interior Ministry refer to "transfer and exchange" (o‘tkazish va ayirboshlash). Mining legal entities are a separate case: para. 4(c) of PQ-3832 as amended by PQ-143 allows them to sell what they mine on foreign platforms as well, while para. 10 of Regulation No. 3461 has not been changed (our analysis). Access to the websites of unlicensed exchanges is restricted, according to the NAPP FAQ.

Article 155-4 of the Code of Administrative Liability and Article 278-8 of the Criminal Code: the penalty table

Quoted from the Russian text of Law No. ZRU-899 (translated from Russian). The Code of Administrative Liability and the Criminal Code were adopted on 22 September 1994 and have been in force since 1 April 1995; neither article has changed since 20 April 2024 (the current Code of Administrative Liability and Criminal Code were checked on 24 September 2026). Amounts are at a BCV of 440,000 soums; the Criminal Code on lex.uz.

ProvisionOffensePenaltyAmount
Article 155-4, part 1, Code of Administrative Liability"Illegal acquisition, sale or exchange of crypto assets, carrying out the activities of service providers in the field of crypto asset circulation without obtaining a license in accordance with the established procedure"detention of up to 15 days or a fine of 20–30 BCV for persons to whom detention does not apply, with confiscation of the crypto assets and the instruments of the offense8.8–13.2 million soums
Article 155-4, part 2, Code of Administrative Liabilitytransactions with anonymous crypto assets by service providersa fine on officials of 30–40 BCV13.2–17.6 million soums
Article 278-8, part 1, Criminal Codethe same acts "committed after an administrative penalty has been imposed for the same acts"a fine of up to 100 BCV, or correctional labor for 2–3 years, or restriction or deprivation of liberty for up to 1 yearup to 44 million soums
Article 278-8, part 2, Criminal Coderepeatedly or by a dangerous recidivist; on a large scale; by a group of persons by prior conspiracya fine of 300–400 BCV, or restriction or deprivation of liberty for up to 3 years132–176 million soums
Article 278-8, part 3, Criminal Codeon an especially large scale; using an official position; by an organized group or in its interestsdeprivation of liberty for 3 to 5 years—

Article 155-4 has two parts; confiscation is named only in part 1, and it does not appear in the penalties of Article 278-8. Mining (Article 155-5 of the Code of Administrative Liability, Article 278-9 of the Criminal Code) is covered in a separate analysis.

When crypto trading becomes a criminal offense

Part 1 of Article 278-8 requires a prior administrative penalty; a person is deemed not to have been penalized if they commit no new administrative offense within a year of the day the penalty was fully served (Article 37 of the Code of Administrative Liability). Parts 2–3 describe "the same acts, committed…" with aggravating features, among them scale (section VIII of the Criminal Code as amended by ZRU-586 of 3 December 2019): a large scale is "in the range of three hundred to five hundred base calculation values" (132–220 million soums), and an especially large scale is "five hundred or more" BCV (from 220 million soums) (translated from Russian). In the 2026 case reports in the table below, where the part of the article is named, it is part 2 or paragraph (a) of part 3; they say nothing about a prior administrative penalty.

The 9-billion-soum Binance trading case and other cases

On 13 September 2026, the Interior Ministry's Department for Combating Cybercrime reported on Telegram that it had uncovered a crime related to the illegal circulation of crypto assets. Details appear in publications citing that post (Daryo, 13 September 2026; Spot, 14 September 2026): a Tashkent resident born in 1985 opened a Binance account without a license and carried out about 700 purchase and sale transactions in 2021–2025; the initial value was $683,000, more than 9 billion soums. According to Daryo, the case under paragraph (a) of part 3 of Article 278-8 was opened by the cybercrime investigation unit of the Kashkadarya regional police department, and a preliminary investigation is under way. The date of 14 September used by some media is the date of their publications; the Interior Ministry post is dated 13 September. Which period is charged, given that the article has applied since 20 April 2024, is not specified.

DateSummaryArticleSource
14 June 2024≥12 people under court rulings of 14 May–12 June 2024 (Binance, Telegram): detention of 3–10 days, in some cases a fine of 6.8 million soums, seizure of smartphones and cards155-4, Code of Administrative LiabilityGazeta.uz, based on court rulings
26 January 2026Bukhara region: Binance and Bitget, 18.167 billion soums over 20 April–30 September 2025, plus episodes involving victims' money; in August 2025 the defendant was sentenced to restriction of liberty over 26 billion soums278-8, part 3(a)Spot
12 March 2026Vobkent: 874 transactions on Binance, 3.546 billion soums278-8, part 3(a)Spot
24 March 2026Tashkent: a "gray" exchange service, ≈793,000 USDT, 229 cards seized278-8Spot
17 July 2026Tashkent: an Egyptian national, USDT worth 191.2 million soums278-8, part 2Spot
22 July 2026Tashkent: a teenager born in 2009, $578,000278-8Spot
24 July 2026Fergana: USDT worth $500,000, 43 cards seized278-8Spot

How offenders are detected, according to these reports: phone checks, the transaction history in the Binance app on a seized smartphone, searches with seizure of bank cards, and operational measures.

Binance in Uzbekistan: the only legal route is through Coinpay

  • NAPP, 29 January 2025 (statement): residents "must use the services of the Binance crypto exchange exclusively by following the link provided on the official page of CoinPay LLC" (translated from Russian); soums are deposited and withdrawn via bank cards and national payment systems; "carrying out transactions directly on the 'P2P' platform" of Binance is a violation that "entails liability" (translated from Russian).
  • COINPAY, 28 January 2025 (a company statement on its blog): the integration is complete, and access is via coinpay.uz/binance.
  • Binance, 26 May 2025 (announcement): "Binance P2P will no longer support Uzbekistani Som (UZS) and the following trading pairs: USDT/UZS, USDC/UZS, BTC/UZS, FDUSD/UZS, BNB/UZS and ETH/UZS, starting from 2025-05-26 19:00 (UTC)" (00:00 on 27 May Tashkent time); in an update to the announcement of 26 May 2025, Binance stated that "fiat channels via HUMO for transactions involving the Uzbekistani Som (UZS) will resume shortly after the aforementioned trading pairs have been disabled."

In the NAPP register, COINPAY is listed as a crypto exchange (CE #0004) and a crypto store (CS #0011), checked on 22 September 2026 (our register analysis). NAPP reported on 4 January 2024 a penalty order against Binance itself for 300 BCV (102 million soums at the time it was imposed), including for serving Uzbek residents without a license (Spot).

Fines of up to 11 billion soums for foreign crypto exchanges: still a draft

These are fines for companies, not for users. On 3 August 2026, Spot reported on a draft NAPP regulation (regulation.adliya.uz): operating without a license — 25,000 BCV (11 billion soums), breaches involving personal data and AML/CFT — 15,000 BCV each (6.6 billion), advertising — 10,000 BCV (4.4 billion); half goes to the budget and half to NAPP. As of 24 September 2026, no adopted act appears on lex.uz or in the documents and news on napp.uz.

If you have already traded directly: time limits and rules

  • Part 1 of Article 36 of the Code of Administrative Liability (as amended by ZRU-389 of 10 August 2015): a penalty "may be imposed no later than one year from the day the offense was committed, and in the case of a continuing offense, one year from the day it was discovered" (translated from Russian).
  • Part 1 of Article 64 of the Criminal Code (as amended by ZRU-485 of 20 July 2018): the limitation period is 2 years for crimes that do not pose a great public danger (under Article 15 of the Criminal Code as amended by Law No. 254-II of 29 August 2001 — deprivation of liberty of no more than 3 years: parts 1–2 of Article 278-8), and 4 years for less serious crimes (more than 3 and up to 5 years: part 3); the period is suspended if the person evades investigation or trial.
  • The last part of Article 278-8: "A person who voluntarily reports a crime being prepared or committed and actively contributes to solving it shall not be liable" (translated from Russian).
  • Article 66 of the Criminal Code (as amended by ZRU-277 of 27 December 2010): a person who has committed a crime of these categories for the first time "may be released from liability if they have turned themselves in, sincerely repented, actively contributed to solving the crime and made amends for the harm caused" (translated from Russian).

PQ-3832 (as amended by PQ-143), ZRU-899 and the NAPP FAQ contain no procedure for the voluntary declaration of crypto assets (checked on 24 September 2026).

Where to check a platform and your tax status

Check licenses in the NAPP register and in our register analysis (as of 22 September 2026, the exchanges are COINPAY and ASTERIUM); Wallet in Telegram is a depository only; for buying legally, see our guide. Crypto asset transactions are not taxed until 1 January 2029, but the exemption does not remove liability for transactions outside providers (our tax analysis).

FAQ

What is the fine for crypto in Uzbekistan in 2026? Detention of up to 15 days or a fine of 20–30 BCV (8.8–13.2 million soums) with confiscation of the crypto assets — for buying, selling or exchanging outside licensed providers (part 1 of Article 155-4 of the Code of Administrative Liability). Amounts are at a BCV of 440,000 soums from 1 September 2026.

Can I trade on Binance from Uzbekistan? Only through COINPAY: according to the NAPP statement of 29 January 2025, residents use Binance "exclusively" via the link from CoinPay LLC (translated from Russian). NAPP calls transactions directly on Binance P2P a violation.

When does crypto trading lead to criminal liability? Under part 1 of Article 278-8 of the Criminal Code — when the offense is repeated after an administrative penalty. Parts 2–3 carry up to 3 years and 3 to 5 years of deprivation of liberty, including for a large (132–220 million soums) and especially large (from 220 million soums) scale.

Can I simply hold cryptocurrency? There is no direct prohibition on holding a crypto asset: PQ-3832 defines it as a property right "having value and an owner" (translated from Russian). It is transactions that are restricted — only through national providers.

What do I face if I have already traded on Binance directly? An administrative penalty under Article 155-4 may be imposed no later than a year from the day of the offense, or, for a continuing offense, from the day it was discovered (Article 36 of the Code of Administrative Liability). The criminal limitation period under Article 278-8 is 2 years for parts 1–2 and 4 years for part 3 (Article 64 of the Criminal Code); there is no voluntary declaration procedure.

Sources

Read also