Uzbekistan Launches Besqala Mining Valley With 10-Year Tax Holiday for Crypto Miners

• Uzbekistan will establish a special crypto mining zone called Besqala Mining Valley across Karakalpakstan.
• The project includes a 10-year tax holiday and is designed to attract investment, create jobs and expand renewable-powered mining.

Uzbekistan is carving out a dedicated space for crypto mining, and it is doing so with a fairly clear industrial pitch rather than a symbolic one.

Under a decree signed by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the country will establish Besqala Mining Valley, a special mining zone that will span the territory of Karakalpakstan, the autonomous republic in northwestern Uzbekistan. The project comes with a 10-year tax holiday, a strong enough incentive to make clear that the government wants this to be taken seriously by investors.

A mining zone built around energy and industrial policy

The government says the main purpose of the initiative is to attract capital, create new jobs and encourage the use of renewable energy in crypto mining. That last point is doing a lot of work here.

Mining policy has increasingly become energy policy by another name. Countries that want mining activity tend to frame it not only as a digital asset issue, but as a way to monetize available power capacity, especially when renewable generation is part of the pitch. Uzbekistan appears to be following that logic quite directly.

According to the decree, mining operations inside Besqala Mining Valley will be allowed to use electricity generated from all types of renewable sources. That gives the zone a broader energy base than a narrowly defined solar-only or hydro-only model might have allowed.

Miners can sell freely, but proceeds must return home

The rules also leave room for commercial flexibility. Residents of the zone will be allowed to sell mined cryptocurrencies on local or foreign exchanges, whether for cash or for other tokens.

But there is a clear state-control element built into the framework as well. The decree says proceeds from those sales must be transferred to banks in Uzbekistan.

That condition matters because it shows the government is not only trying to attract miners. It also wants the financial flows generated by those operations to remain visible inside the domestic banking system.

The broader picture is straightforward enough. Uzbekistan is not merely tolerating mining. It is attempting to industrialize it, link it to renewable energy, and keep the economic benefits, at least in part, within the country’s own financial architecture.