Tether signs MoU with Kazakhstan's central bank to explore a tenge-pegged stablecoin

Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, said on Oct. 7 that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) and the Alatau City Authority (ACA). The three parties will explore opportunities in a stablecoin pegged to the tenge, Kazakhstan's national currency, in asset tokenization (turning assets such as stocks or real estate into tokens on a blockchain) and in decentralized finance (DeFi). The NBK is the central bank responsible for monetary policy, oversight of payment systems, currency regulation and financial stability.

Tether said that under the agreement the parties will work together to build the infrastructure needed for digital finance in Kazakhstan. The MoU covers three main areas.

• Jointly studying international stablecoin issuance models, defining use cases, and preparing a concept and pilot proposal for a tenge-pegged stablecoin
• Developing an asset tokenization framework for Kazakhstan and launching a pilot project within the jurisdiction of the city of Alatau
• Holding training programs and seminars for central bank and government staff on stablecoin issuance, reserve management and real-world asset tokenization

No decision yet to issue a tenge stablecoin

The agreement is a commitment to explore. CoinDesk reported that the MoU does not amount to a decision to issue the stablecoin. The central bank also put research and pilots first. "As part of piloting tokenization projects, we intend to thoroughly study international best practices in stablecoin issuance and real-world asset tokenization," said Binur Zhalenov, deputy governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan. "Concurrently, maintaining financial stability, transaction transparency, and robust investor protection remains the paramount priority for the National Bank."

"Kazakhstan is taking a deliberate, forward-looking approach by exploring asset tokenization and a strategic reserve framework," said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether. "We are proud to support this vision for financial innovation and technological advancement across Central Asia." He added that the use cases for digital assets are evolving into real-life applications and ultimately into sovereign-level financial infrastructure, and that the goal is to build efficient, transparent and sustainable digital finance infrastructure while protecting data and privacy.

Alatau, a city under a special legal regime, as the testbed

The ACA, another party to the agreement, is a state body responsible for public administration and regulatory development in Alatau, a city under a special legal regime. Tether said the authority was established to position Alatau as a hub for digital innovation and financial technology in Central Asia.

Drawing on international regulatory and technological experience, the parties will identify priority asset categories, design a conceptual tokenization model and then launch a pilot in Alatau. The potential use of Hadron by Tether, the company's tokenization platform, is also under consideration. Hadron is a Tether service that helps companies and institutions issue and manage tokenized assets.

A tenge coin already emerged from a sandbox a year ago

This would not be Kazakhstan's first tenge stablecoin. On Sept. 23, 2025, the NBK announced that the first tenge-denominated stablecoin had launched in its regulatory sandbox (a program that temporarily relaxes rules so new services can be tested). It was built by Intebix, a digital asset exchange registered with the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), together with Solana, Mastercard and Eurasian Bank, and let users exchange cryptocurrency for tenge-denominated stablecoins and trade using crypto cards. The central bank said at the time that eight pilot projects in four areas had been selected for the sandbox.

This time, rather than a private exchange, the world's largest stablecoin issuer is working directly with the central bank. Tether has announced a string of agreements with governments and institutions recently. On Sept. 24, it signed an MoU with Pave Bank, a corporate and institutional bank, and GFTN, a Singapore-based not-for-profit organization, to explore a Georgia–Singapore Fintech Scholars program.

According to CoinDesk, Tether also issues about $3.3 billion of XAUT, a token that tracks the price of gold.

In South Korea, USDT trades on Korean won markets. As of 7:40 a.m. KST on Oct. 8, USDT traded at 1,365 won on Upbit and 1,366 won on Bithumb, about 2% above the won-dollar exchange rate of 1,338.9 won compiled by Coinyong at the same time.