Uzbekistan greenlights stablecoins for payments under new sandbox regime

Uzbekistan is officially bringing stablecoins into its payment system starting January 1, 2026 — but they're playing it smart with a tightly controlled regulatory sandbox first. This isn't some wild west crypto experiment — it's government-approved digital cash.

According to local news outlet Kun's Friday report, the new law signed on Thursday establishes a regulatory sandbox under the National Agency for Perspective Projects and the central bank. Pilot projects will develop stablecoin payment systems running on distributed ledger tech.

Starting next year, Uzbekistan-based entities can issue tokenized shares and bonds, with a separate trading platform for these assets on licensed stock exchanges. This is massive — they're building the entire digital asset infrastructure from the ground up.

Central bank chairman Timur Ishmetov announced back in September that digital currency studies were underway. His exact words: crypto activities "should be done under strict control, as it will have a serious impact on monetary policy." Translation: they're not messing around with financial stability.

Ishmetov mentioned CBDCs too, but specifically NOT for retail use. He said such currency "would not be used in people's daily lives, but mainly to speed up settlements between commercial or central banks." So they're thinking institutional first, consumer later.

The National Agency for Prospective Projects already showed they mean business in March 2024 — they doubled monthly fees for crypto market participants. Crypto exchanges now face a monthly fee equivalent to $20,015. That's serious regulatory muscle.

While the world figures out crypto regulation, Central Asia is moving FAST. Kyrgyzstan rolled out a new stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the Kyrgyzstani som in late October, while confirming CBDC plans and exploring a digital asset reserve.

But Kazakhstan is leading the pack — their Financial Monitoring Agency took down 130 crypto platforms involved in money laundering this year. They're running a dual-track approach: piloting a CBDC while backing a state-linked stablecoin.

Kazakhstan launched their central bank's stablecoin pilot in late September and established a state-backed crypto reserve with Binance, holding BNB. They're not just regulating — they're participating.