Uzbekistan Legalizes Stablecoins for Payments and Tokenized Stocks in Massive 2026 Overhaul

Uzbekistan is getting ready to combine stablecoins into its formal cost system and enable the issuance of tokenized shares and bonds below a tightly regulated framework beginning in 2026, in response to native media stories.

The plan positions the nation to develop into one in all Central Asia’s most structured environments for regulated digital-asset exercise.

It additionally represents a significant shift for a jurisdiction that after imposed broad restrictions on crypto use however has spent current years constructing a extra managed and supervised system for the sector.

Uzbekistan Prepares Licensed Exchanges for Tokenized Securities Trading in 2026

According to a Friday report by native information outlet Kun, below the brand new guidelines, a particular authorized regime will take impact on January 1, 2026, introducing a regulatory sandbox managed by the National Agency for Perspective Projects along with the central financial institution.

The sandbox will enable stablecoins to be examined as a method of cost inside a managed surroundings, the place authorities will monitor danger, market conduct, and technical implementation.

Pilot packages can even discover a distributed-ledger-based cost system and develop a regulated market for tokenized equities and bonds.

Starting the identical day, authorized entities registered in Uzbekistan shall be permitted to situation tokenized securities, with licensed inventory exchanges getting ready devoted buying and selling platforms to assist placement and circulation.

The transfer follows months of evaluate. In September, central financial institution chairman Timur Ishmetov said stablecoins could possibly be authorized for funds however solely below strict oversight given their potential impression on financial coverage.

He cautioned that expectations for digital currencies usually exceed their sensible use in mature cost programs, but confirmed the financial institution will proceed testing numerous fashions, together with a wholesale CBDC designed to hurry interbank settlements relatively than serve the general public.

The decree builds on Uzbekistan’s ongoing regulatory framework, which, since January 2023, has required all crypto transactions by residents to movement by regionally licensed crypto asset service suppliers.

These guidelines ban nameless transactions, prohibit the usage of international exchanges, require obligatory buyer identification, and mandate that suppliers retailer transaction information for a minimum of 5 years.

Crypto is handled as an asset relatively than authorized tender, although stablecoins will now develop into the primary class permitted for cost use inside a managed mannequin.

Mining remains legal but regulated, with firms required to make use of photo voltaic power and register with the company.

New Rules Coincide With Industry Push to Standardize Blockchain Payments

The new stablecoin legislation follows a sequence of value changes for the trade. In March 2024, month-to-month charges for crypto exchanges were doubled to roughly $20,000 as a part of a wider effort to tighten the market and guarantee compliance.

Uzbekistan has maintained a extremely supervised method whilst exercise grows. In 2024, practically 1.5% of the inhabitants held cryptocurrency, and licensed home suppliers processed greater than $1 billion in transactions.

The nation ranked thirty third globally in adoption, main Central Asia alongside Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, which have every pursued their very own approaches to mining, funds, and licensing.

The world context surrounding funds can also be altering. Throughout 2025, a number of main jurisdictions formalized oversight for stablecoins.

The European Union began implementing its broad MiCA rules, the United States superior federal laws through the GENIUS Act, and areas resembling Hong Kong and the UAE launched licensing programs that carry stablecoin issuers below direct supervision.

Canada proposed its Stablecoin Act, whereas South Africa, Kenya, and Brazil superior frameworks for stablecoin utilization in commerce and cross-border settlement.

These steps have come as blockchain-based funds proceed to scale, with on-chain settlement quantity surpassing ranges seen in conventional card networks.

Another trade milestone got here as Fireblocks, Polygon Labs, Mysten Labs, Solana Foundation, TON Foundation, Stellar Development Foundation, and Monad Foundation formed the Blockchain Payments Consortium meant to standardize how digital property transfer throughout networks.

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