UN Security Org OSCE Trains Uzbeki Police on Crypto and Dark Web Investigations

The OSCE had arranged a five-day training course for Uzbekistan’s police and prosecution forces on cryptocurrencies and Dark Web investigation in an effort to educate them on developing technologies that criminals may use in this strategically vital region for the global drug trade.

OSCE Trains Uzbek Law Enforcers to Seize Crypto

According to an official press release dated October 21, members from the General Prosecutor’s Office, the State Security Service, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs attended the training provided by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) from October 17 to 21 to learn about the core concepts and significant trends in internetworking, anonymity and encryption, cryptocurrencies, obfuscation tactics, the Dark Web, and the Tor networks.

The training is part of the OSCE’s ongoing efforts to educate Central Asian law enforcement officers on developing technology that criminals may use in this strategically vital region for the global drug trade.

The enforcers learned about methods for seizing cryptocurrencies and blockchain analysis established by the European Cybercrime Training and Education Group (ECTEG). The OSCE has even provided the General Prosecutor’s Academy with a new computer classroom.

The course was the first national training in Uzbekistan to be delivered within the second phase of the extra-budgetary project “Capacity Building on Combating Cybercrime in Central Asia,” which is financed by the United States, Germany, and the Republic of Korea. National training activities will be carried out throughout the region in 2022 and 2023.

The OSCE also held a crypto enforcement training course for Central Asian nations in 2020. At the time, law enforcement officials from many more countries gathered in Almaty for the program, including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Mongolia.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has observer status at the United Nations, is the largest regional intergovernmental organization in the world that focuses on ensuring regional security. It has its headquarters in Vienna, and its work focuses on issues such as disarmament, advocacy for human rights, freedom of the press, and free and fair elections.

Uzbekistan Government and Crypto Regulation

In August, the Uzbekistan government, which had previously taken substantial strides toward a moderate stance on cryptocurrencies, barred access to a number of prominent international cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance, FTX, and Huobi, amid allegations of unlicensed operations.

In 2020, the Uzbek government proposed a slew of regulations to boost cryptocurrency activity in the country. It intended to establish a national mining pool and a licensed cryptocurrency market where miners could sell their currencies. Furthermore, the government campaigned for crypto tax breaks and the creation of a blockchain valley. In September 2021, the deputy chairman of the Uzbekistan Central Bank stressed the importance of the Central bank digital currency (CBDC), which, unlike Bitcoins, is backed by the bank’s assets.

In June, the National Agency for Prospective Projects of Uzbekistan (NAPP) drafted a regulation on crypto miner registration which allowed only companies that mine Bitcoin (BTC) or other cryptocurrencies using solar energy to register within the nation.