Summary
- Kazakhstan’s central bank said it is working with Tether to explore a tenge-based stablecoin and a real-world asset tokenization project.
- The three institutions signed an MOU on cooperation in stablecoins, asset tokenization and decentralized finance (DeFi) and plan to move ahead with a pilot project.
- Deputy Governor Binur Zhalenov said financial stability, transaction transparency and investor protection will be the top priorities.
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Kazakhstan’s central bank is working with Tether, the issuer of the dollar-pegged USDT stablecoin, to explore a stablecoin tied to the local tenge and the tokenization of real-world assets.
CoinDesk reported on Oct. 7 that Tether signed a memorandum of understanding that day with the National Bank of Kazakhstan and the Alatau City Administration to cooperate on stablecoins, asset tokenization and decentralized finance, or DeFi.
The three parties will jointly study overseas stablecoin issuance models and use cases. They also plan to draw up a proposal for the concept design and pilot program of a tenge-linked stablecoin.
Real-world asset tokenization is another key area of cooperation. The three institutions plan to identify asset classes suitable for tokenization, design tokenization models and pursue a pilot project in Alatau. They will also review the use of Tether’s asset issuance and management platform, Hadron.
Tether and Kazakh authorities will also run training programs for central bank staff and related government agencies. The curriculum will cover stablecoin issuance, reserve management and the tokenization of real-world assets using distributed ledger technology.
Binur Zhalenov, deputy governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, said the central bank plans to closely study international best practices for stablecoin issuance and real-world asset tokenization. He added that financial stability, transaction transparency and investor protection would be the top priorities.
