Illegal P2P crypto trading in Uzbekistan: risks, checks and court cases
Why does buying and selling crypto without a licence end in administrative arrest and confiscated phones? How do the authorities find P2P traders, and what happens to offenders?
The big change in the law. Since 19 April 2024, under Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan ZRU-899, crypto can be traded only through licensed national providers, meaning crypto exchanges and crypto shops. Any other buying or selling of crypto is banned.
Selling or buying USDT person-to-person via Telegram or in the P2P sections of foreign platforms such as Binance or Bybit is an offence under Article 155-4 of the Code of Administrative Responsibility and carries administrative liability.
How do the authorities find P2P traders? In practice the Interior Ministry's Cybersecurity Centre, the State Security Service and the Prosecutor General's Office mainly use three methods.
1. Test purchases ("operational experiments"). Officers answer ads on Telegram or P2P platforms posing as customers. Once they get card details or arrange a cash handover, the deal is documented with physical evidence.
2. Bank card monitoring (Uzcard / Humo). Dozens of identical payments from different people in a short time are flagged as suspicious, the accounts are frozen and the data goes to investigators.
3. Analysis of exchanges and "dirty" transactions. When the trail of stolen or scam money is traced, traders who received it through P2P are held liable as accomplices.
Geography and scale: from $50 to millions. The practice started in Tashkent district courts (Chilanzar, Mirzo Ulugbek, Yunusabad) and spread across the country: Bukhara, Samarkand, Navoi and the Fergana Valley.
The mass segment: most of those caught are students and young people aged 18–26. For many of them the amounts were around $50–500 (a few million som).
Large operations: high-turnover exchangers are also being caught. In Bukhara region, a minor's total P2P turnover on a foreign exchange was found to exceed $2.6 million (34 billion som). A criminal case was opened under Part 3 of Article 278-8 of the Criminal Code, and the case drew wide public attention.
What happens after arrest? Administrative detention: under Article 155-4, courts often go beyond a fine and order up to 15 days of administrative arrest (in practice usually 3 to 15 days).
Confiscation of devices and accounts: the phone (iPhone, Samsung, etc.) is confiscated as the instrument of the offence. Crypto assets and bank cards are confiscated too.
Risk of criminal charges: a repeat offence within a year of an administrative penalty is tried under Article 278-8 of the Criminal Code. Trading on a large scale or as a group is a crime even the first time, with up to 3 years in prison, and on an especially large scale or by an organised group, 3 to 5 years.
Sources: Lex.uz (O'RQ-899), UzDaily
News is for information only and is not investment advice. Use only crypto providers licensed in Uzbekistan.