Uzbekistan is starting to prepare stablecoins for use in the official payment system. The first step will be a test mode with strict government oversight. Local media report this.
According to Kun, the new regulatory framework for stablecoins will come into force on January 1, 2026. The law, which was signed on Thursday, creates a special sandbox managed by the National Agency for Prospective Projects together with the Central Bank.
As part of the project, pilot solutions will be launched to test a payment system based on stablecoins and distributed ledger technologies. Starting next year, Uzbek companies will be able to issue tokenized shares and bonds. A separate trading platform for such assets will be created on licensed exchanges.
The news came a few months after a statement by the head of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan, Timur Ishmetov. In September, he said that the study of digital currencies is already underway and that any crypto activity must be under strict control, as it directly affects monetary policy.
CBDC is also being considered
Ishmetov also mentioned the Central Bank’s digital currency, but not in a retail format. According to him, such a currency will not be used in citizens’ everyday payments. It is seen as a tool to speed up settlements between commercial banks and the Central Bank.
Branch of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan in Kashkadarya. Source: Wikimedia
At the end of March 2024, the National Agency for Prospective Projects of Uzbekistan issued a directive to increase monthly fees for crypto market participants. Under the new rules, crypto exchanges must pay about $20,015 per month, which is almost twice the previous amount.
Central Asia is also not standing aside
While the whole world is building rules for the crypto market, Central Asian countries are also moving forward. At the end of October, Kyrgyzstan introduced a new stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the Kyrgyz som, and confirmed plans to issue its own Central Bank digital currency and create a digital asset reserve.
But Kazakhstan stands out the most. According to October data, the country’s Financial Monitoring Agency closed 130 crypto platforms this year alone, which were involved in money laundering schemes. In the same month, Kazakhstan continued its dual strategy: testing CBDC and developing a state-linked stablecoin.
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These steps followed the launch of the Central Bank of Kazakhstan’s stablecoin pilot project at the end of September. In the same month, the country created a state crypto reserve together with Binance, which includes BNB.
