Effective January 1, 2026, Turkmenistan will introduce a law permitting the mining, storage, and trading of cryptocurrencies, though their use as a means of payment remains prohibited. The new regulation effectively brings the country out of the grey zone, establishing a regulated market for digital assets without undermining the monopoly of the national currency, the manat.
The law defines cryptocurrency as “digital property” under the owner’s control and stipulates that mining farms and exchanges must be registered in a state registry. Authorities emphasize that the goal of the reform is to “attract technological investments and develop digital infrastructure.”
Experts note that Turkmenistan’s step aligns with the Central Asian trend of “limited legalization,” where states open the door to miners and exchanges but tightly control circulation and settlements. Essentially, this is state crypto-capitalism: freedom of ownership without freedom of transaction.
Source: Ministry of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan, November 2025.
