Tether has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Kazakhstan's National Bank and the Alatau City Authority to explore the development of a stablecoin linked to the tenge, the country's national currency.
The agreement does not establish any confirmed launch date, issuer, or supporting blockchain for the proposed token. Instead, the three parties will conduct research into stablecoin models used elsewhere, assess potential use cases for a tenge-backed token, and examine reserve management approaches.
Research and Workshop Phase
The signatories plan to study how a blockchain-based version of the tenge could maintain parity with the national currency while providing digital finance infrastructure. Workshops on stablecoins, reserve management, and asset tokenization on blockchain will be held for central bank and government employees.
Paolo Ardoino, Tether's CEO, stated that Tether aimed to build "efficient, transparent and sustainable digital finance infrastructure."
Asset Tokenization Component
Beyond the stablecoin research, the agreement covers the creation of a framework to convert real-world assets into blockchain-based tokens. A pilot program is planned for Alatau City, supported by Tether's Hadron platform—a tool designed to enable organizations to create digitalized versions of assets on Tether's network.
Context
Kazakhstan previously announced a similar pilot project in September 2025 involving local crypto exchange Intebix, Solana, Mastercard, and Eurasian Bank to connect crypto services to the country's conventional payment system. The latest agreement with Tether represents an alternative approach to stablecoin development, though any advancement beyond the research phase will depend on pilot proposals and regulatory approval.
