Tether has signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Bank of Kazakhstan and the Alatau City Authority to explore a tenge-backed stablecoin and real-world asset tokenization, the company announced on October 7, 2026.
The agreement covers two tracks: examining international issuance models, domestic use cases and infrastructure for a potential tenge stablecoin pilot, and developing a tokenization framework for real-world assets, possibly using Tether’s Hadron platform. No token has been launched, and the memorandum is explicitly exploratory rather than a commitment to issue.
Kazakhstan’s regulatory backdrop is already advanced. From May 1, 2026, its digital-asset regime separates unsecured crypto assets from digital financial assets, including money-backed stablecoins and tokenized real assets. The National Bank has outlined plans for cross-border stablecoin payments, tokenized government bonds and DeFi rules, and it ran a tenge-denominated stablecoin pilot in September 2025 with Intebix, Eurasian Bank, Mastercard and Solana.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said Kazakhstan is taking a “deliberate, forward-looking approach” by exploring asset tokenization and a strategic reserve framework. Deputy Governor Binur Zhalenov stressed financial stability, transparency and investor protection as priorities. Both sides will hold workshops covering stablecoin issuance, reserve management and tokenization.
The agreement places Tether in Alatau City, Kazakhstan’s special-regime “CryptoCity” created by a law signed in May 2026. Binance signed its own memorandum with the National Bank in September 2026, and Binance Pay already operates across 5,000 local point-of-sale terminals, converting digital assets such as USDT into tenge.
For Tether, the project follows the closure of its offshore Chinese yuan token CNH₮, which was discontinued due to limited demand. A tenge stablecoin would face a similar commercial test, especially since Kazakhstan already has a digital tenge and previous private stablecoin pilots.
