NAPP approves Kapital Bank and Ravnaq Bank to offer crypto cards to customers.
The National Agency for Perspective Projects (NAPP) has authorized Kapital Bank and Ravnaq Bank, two private banks in Uzbekistan, to take part in the crypto regulatory sandbox regime. According to the report, a bank account with access to a crypto exchange and an automatic exchange mechanism will be integrated with plastic crypto cards (named UzNEX).
These crypto cards will be supported by leading payment provider Mastercard. The end of December 2023 is the target for both banks' crypto cards' final customer rollouts.
Since 2023, the government of Uzbekistan has prohibited unlicensed entities from offering cryptocurrency services. In November 2022, the first licenses were given to regional cryptocurrency businesses. Prior to that, Uzbekistan imposed access restrictions on a number of major international cryptocurrency exchanges.
The country's regulatory approach to crypto was initiated by a presidential decree in 2022 when the NAPP was launched to oversee the digital assets industry. The decree also provided comprehensive legal details related to cryptocurrency mining operations in Uzbekistan.
Kapital Bank and Ravnaq Bank remain two of the three registered participants in the Special Regime. The approval for Ravnaq Bank to participate in the pilot was reported on August 14, 2023.
“The participant of the special regime will test the solution for integrating the automated banking system, the information system of the crypto-exchange, the processing center of the bank and the MasterCard international payment system,” according to the release.
Earlier, in May 2023, the Agency confirmed that Kapital Bank would issue its crypto card as well.
The move to allow banks to issue crypto cards is a positive step towards the adoption of cryptocurrencies in Uzbekistan.
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