Uzbekistan to Legalize Stablecoins for Payments and Allow Tokenized Securities from 2026
Uzbekistan will formally recognise stablecoins as a means of payment from January 1, 2026, under a dedicated legal regime and regulatory sandbox administered by the National Agency of Perspective Projects (NAPP) and the Central Bank of Uzbekistan (CBU). The sandbox will enable pilot distributed-ledger payment systems and careful testing — including possible trials of a digital som — with a strong focus on AML, cybersecurity and systemic-risk safeguards. Uzbek legal entities will be permitted to issue tokenized shares and bonds, tradable on licensed exchanges through a specialised placement and trading platform. The government plans an “open banking” framework by year-end to allow secure data exchange between banks, payment processors and fintech firms. A $50m venture fund will support fintech development, with objectives to host 200 fintech firms and attract up to $1bn in foreign investment by 2030. The move follows prior Central Bank statements on testing digital currency and reflects broader Central Asian regulatory momentum (e.g., Kyrgyzstan’s USDKG and reforms in Kazakhstan), signalling increased institutional adoption, potential new liquidity sources and fresh tokenized instruments for traders — although rollout will be gradual and constrained by sandbox conditions.
Bullish
Legal recognition of stablecoins and permission for tokenized securities are pro-adoption moves that increase institutional use cases and on-chain liquidity. For traders, this expands potential market depth and introduces new tradable instruments (tokenized shares/bonds) that can attract institutional flows. The establishment of a regulated sandbox reduces regulatory uncertainty and signals a controlled, predictable rollout — typically supportive for market confidence. Short-term impact is likely modest because pilots and sandbox restrictions will limit immediate issuance and wide-scale use; initial liquidity and price reaction should be contained. Long-term, as tokenized securities and stablecoin rails mature and integration with licensed exchanges and open banking occurs, structural demand could rise—supporting broader market participation and positive price pressure on related tokens and stablecoins. Regional regulatory momentum further reinforces confidence, making the overall effect net bullish for adoption-linked assets and stablecoin utility.