Crypto: Kazakhstan Teams Up With Tether to Explore Local Currency Stablecoin

Kazakhstan brings its financial system closer to crypto again. The country’s National Bank, Tether, and the Alatau city administration signed an agreement to study a stablecoin backed by the tenge, the national currency. The project first involves a concept and a pilot. The partners also want to tokenize real assets potentially using Tether’s Hadron platform. No new stablecoin has been launched yet.

Kazakhstan Prepares a New Crypto Project with Tether

The agreement was signed on October 7 between Tether, the National Bank of Kazakhstan, and the Alatau City Authority. The three partners want to study several international models of stablecoin issuance, identify possible uses, and prepare a pilot proposal for a crypto backed by the tenge. Tether is thus not immediately becoming the issuer of a new Kazakh digital currency. The work begins with design.

The country is already familiar with this field. In September 2025, the National Bank of Kazakhstan had launched the Evo stablecoin, or KZTE, on Solana. The project was developed within its regulatory environment with Eurasian Bank, Mastercard, and Intebix.

The new cooperation with Tether goes further. It also aims to determine how to integrate stablecoins into local financial infrastructures while working on reserves, transaction transparency, and investor protection. Kazakhstan is thus accumulating experience. Not only with Bitcoin or exchanges but also with its own currency.

Hadron Is to Be Used to Tokenize Real Assets

The stablecoin is only part of the agreement. Tether and the National Bank also want to build a framework for tokenizing real assets. Several categories of assets must be identified before creating a model and then a pilot crypto project in the special jurisdiction of Alatau.

The Hadron platform by Tether could be used. Hadron allows creation and management of various tokenized assets. Tether has already positioned it beyond its historic activity around USDT, with possible uses for bonds, commodities, funds, or other financial assets.

This diversification accompanies a broader debate in finance. In August, Tether already contested the vision of the Bank for International Settlements on stablecoins and tokenized deposits.

Kazakhstan now wants to directly experiment with this crypto infrastructure. Workshops and training are also planned for central bank specialists and several public bodies. They will cover stablecoin issuance, reserve management, digital asset markets, and tokenization using distributed ledgers.

Alatau will serve as a test ground. The city has a special legal regime aimed notably at attracting technology and financial companies.

Kazakhstan Accelerates Its Crypto Strategy

This new alliance is not an isolated turn. Kazakhstan has been multiplying projects around digital assets for several years. After occupying an important place in Bitcoin mining, the country now works on stablecoins, regulated infrastructures, and public investments in crypto.

In 2025, the government had already created the Alem crypto fund with an initial investment in BNB. The National Bank adopts a similar approach here: experiment under control before possible wider deployment.

Binur Zhalenov, deputy governor of the institution, also emphasizes three priorities: financial stability, transaction transparency, and investor protection. Tether brings its experience with stablecoins and tokenization.

The project must now move from the memorandum of understanding to the pilot. No launch date for the tenge-backed stablecoin has been announced. Its name, its blockchain, and its exact reserve model are not known yet either. Kazakhstan has thus chosen Tether to explore the next step. The stablecoin itself remains to be built.