Tether与哈萨克斯坦签署谅解备忘录，探索稳定币合作

Bitcoin signed a memorandum of understanding with the Central Bank of Kazakhstan and the City of Aratau to explore the development of stablecoins and asset tokenization

On October 7, 2026, Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer by market value, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Bank of Kazakhstan and the Municipal Government of Aratau to explore cooperation opportunities in the fields of stablecoin development, asset tokenization and decentralized finance (DeFi). This move marks an important step in promoting the standardization of digital asset infrastructure in Central Asia. However, the agreement does not promise to launch any specific products, and its scope is still limited to the initial exploration stage.

The memorandum of understanding issued by Bitcoin connects the world's largest stablecoin issuer with two Kazakhstan public sector institutions. Among them, the National Bank of Kazakhstan, as the country's central monetary authority, is responsible for formulating monetary policy; while the Alatau City Government oversees the management of the country's special economic zone, which gathers many financial technology and technological innovation projects.

Currently, Bitcoin's market value has reached US$184.02 billion, making it the dominant stablecoin in the global cryptocurrency market and the inevitable benchmark of comparison for any tool pegged to Kazakhstani Tenge. Although the USDT's own trading price remains at around US$0.9996, closely anchored to the US dollar, this is mainly due to the support of its reserve management and redemption mechanisms for the credibility of stablecoins. All parties in Kazakhstan will also include research on such mechanisms in planned seminars.

两大 distinct 工作方向：坚戈稳定币研究与阿拉套代币化试点

根据备忘录内容，双方将开展两项独立的工作流：

1. 坚戈稳定币研究： 研究国际稳定币发行模式，定义应用场景，并准备一份挂钩哈萨克斯坦国家货币坚戈的稳定币概念及试点提案。
2. 资产代币化框架： 建立资产代币化框架，并可能在阿拉套市进行试点，利用特币的Hadron平台实现现实世界资产（RWA）的代币化。

这种区分至关重要：截至目前，尚未公布任何发布日期、发行承诺或监管批准。哈萨克斯坦国家银行明确表示，金融稳定、交易透明度和投资者保护仍是首要任务。这意味着，任何挂钩坚戈的工具从概念走向部署之前，都将面临严格的尽职调查。

此外，各方还将举办涵盖稳定币发行、储备管理及现实世界资产代币化的教育研讨会和培训课程。这种能力建设元素表明，目前的合作处于早期探索阶段，而非拥有明确技术路线图的项目。

哈萨克斯坦更广泛的数字资产愿景提供背景

Kazakhstan has grand strategic intentions in the field of digital assets. According to reports, the country has established a "national strategic crypto reserve" worth approximately US$700 million and tested 34 digital asset projects through the central bank's regulatory sandbox. The data shows that the memorandum of understanding is part of a deliberate multi-year effort by Astana to position itself as a regional digital financial center rather than just an isolated bilateral agreement.

Bitcoin CEO Paolo Ardoino said the company believes digital assets are evolving into "real-life applications and ultimately sovereign-level financial infrastructure." However, critics point out that memorandums of understanding between private stablecoin issuers and sovereign institutions have historically tended to produce limited binding results, and regulatory and political frictions have often led to pilot projects being delayed or cancelled before they are put into production.

Industry trends and future outlook

Institutional participation models in stablecoin discussions are not limited to Kazakhstan. For example, the recent opening of cryptocurrency trading by a South African bank to 9 million customers, and the expansion of Bitcoin itself, including the launch of USDT in Zama, point to a broader trend: regulated financial institutions are cautiously but steadily moving towards digital asset integration in emerging markets.

For Kazakhstan, the Alatau Special Economic Zone provides a relatively restricted regulatory environment that allows tokenization pilots to be carried out under closer supervision, thereby reducing systemic risks while generating data that affects final national-level policy decisions. Whether the Tenge stablecoin study and the Alatau tokenization pilot will evolve into well-funded projects depends on subsequent policy decisions, and the memorandum of understanding does not presuppose these results.

Observers following sovereign stablecoin efforts will be closely watching the release of formal pilot proposals, subsequent guidance from the central bank on pegging the Tenge tool, and whether Hadron is officially selected as the tokenization infrastructure for the Alatau area. Currently, none of these results have been announced, and the memorandum of understanding does not guarantee that they will be followed up on any particular timeline.