Tether signs deal with Kazakhstan’s central bank on tenge stablecoin

Key points

• Tether, Kazakhstan's central bank and the Alatau City Authority signed an MoU on Oct. 7
• Parties will draft a pilot proposal for a tenge-linked stablecoin; issuance is not committed
• A tokenization pilot in Alatau may use Tether's Hadron platform
• Workshops on reserves and tokenization are planned for central bank staff

The National Bank of Kazakhstan has signed a memorandum of understanding with stablecoin issuer Tether to study a stablecoin tied to the country’s currency, the tenge, and the tokenization of real-world assets. The Alatau City Authority is the third party to the agreement, which was announced Wednesday, according to CoinDesk.

The deal is exploratory. CoinDesk reported that it does not commit Kazakhstan to issuing a stablecoin.

What the memorandum covers

According to Tether’s announcement, the parties will explore stablecoins, asset tokenization and decentralized finance. On stablecoins, they will study international issuance models and draft a concept and pilot proposal for a token tied to the tenge.

On tokenization, the parties plan to build a framework, identify priority asset categories, design a conceptual model and launch a pilot in Alatau. Tether said the framework may use Hadron, its platform for issuing and managing tokenized assets. Alatau operates under a special legal regime that is meant in part to encourage fintech, CoinDesk reported. Tether says the city authority aims to position Alatau as a fintech hub in Central Asia.

The agreement also includes workshops, seminars and training on digital asset markets, reserve management and real-world asset tokenization. They are aimed at central bank specialists and other government agencies.

What officials said

Binur Zhalenov, deputy governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, said the bank would study international practice in stablecoin issuance. According to Cointelegraph, he named financial stability, transaction transparency and investor protection as priorities. Tether’s announcement quoted him saying that investor protection remains the bank’s “paramount priority.”

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the company’s goal is to build “efficient, transparent, and sustainable digital finance infrastructure,” according to the announcement.

Kazakhstan’s wider digital asset push

The memorandum follows a series of crypto-related moves in the country. Cointelegraph reported that in September the government approved a 65-measure plan across 10 areas to develop the digital asset industry, covering real-world asset tokenization, digital payments, international settlements and crypto mining.

Cointelegraph also cited government figures showing the National Strategic Crypto Reserve has reached $700 million and that 34 digital asset projects have completed testing in the central bank’s regulatory sandbox. It cited BitcoinTreasuries.net as ranking Kazakhstan seventh among governments for Bitcoin holdings, with an estimated 3,544 BTC worth about $294 million.

Tether’s scale

CoinDesk noted that Tether issues USDT, with about $140 billion in circulation, and XAUT, a tokenized gold product of roughly $3.3 billion backed by physical bullion held in Swiss vaults.

No timeline for the pilot proposal or the Alatau tokenization pilot was given in the sources reviewed. Any stablecoin issuance would require further decisions by Kazakh authorities.