7 October 2026 – Tether, the largest company in the digital asset industry, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) and the Alatau City Authority (ACA), a specialized state administrative body in Kazakhstan. Together, the parties will explore opportunities in stablecoin development, asset tokenization, and decentralized finance.
The NBK is the central bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is responsible for developing and implementing monetary policy, overseeing payment systems, managing currency regulation and control, and maintaining the stability of the country’s financial system. The ACA is responsible for public administration and regulatory development in the city of Alatau under its special legal regime. It was established to position the city as a hub for digital innovation and financial technology in Central Asia.
Under the MoU, the parties will work to develop the infrastructure needed to support digital finance in Kazakhstan. This includes jointly studying international models for stablecoin issuance, defining potential use cases, and preparing a concept and pilot proposal for a stablecoin pegged to the national currency, the tenge.
The agreement also covers developing an asset tokenization framework in Kazakhstan, including the potential use of Hadron by Tether, Tether’s tokenization platform. Drawing on international regulatory and technological experience, the parties will identify priority asset categories, design a conceptual tokenization model, and launch a pilot project within the jurisdiction of the city of Alatau.
To support these efforts, Tether, the NBK, and the ACA will hold a series of educational workshops, seminars, and training programs. These will cover the international stablecoin and digital asset market, issuance and reserve management models, and the tokenization of real-world assets using distributed ledger technology, while supporting the professional development of NBK specialists and relevant government agencies.
“The use cases for digital assets are evolving into real-life applications and, ultimately, into sovereign-level financial infrastructure. Kazakhstan is taking a deliberate, forward-looking approach by exploring asset tokenization and a strategic reserve framework. We are proud to support this vision for financial innovation and technological advancement across Central Asia. Our goal is to build efficient, transparent, and sustainable digital finance infrastructure, while protecting data and privacy,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether.
“Collaboration with international technology leaders unlocks new opportunities for developing the digital infrastructure of Kazakhstan’s financial sector. As part of piloting tokenization projects, we intend to thoroughly study international best practices in stablecoin issuance and real-world asset tokenization. Concurrently, maintaining financial stability, transaction transparency, and robust investor protection remains the paramount priority for the National Bank,” said Binur Zhalenov, Deputy Governor of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
