On July 8, Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Justice approved a regulation governing registration and operations of the residents of the Besqala Mining Valley. Prospectors here won’t be mining for gold, uranium, or copper – they are mining cryptocurrency.

Developed by the National Agency for Prospective Projects (NAPP), the new regulation is in accordance with the presidential resolution from April 17 to establish the first-of-its-kind special crypto mining zone in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, covering its whole territory. Within Besqala, incomes from crypto mining are exempted from taxes until 2035. That creates an incentivizing environment for large mining operators, although it’s notable that only locally registered legal entities…