Uzbekistan greenlights stablecoins for payments under new sandbox regime
Uzbekistan is moving to bring stablecoins into its formal payment system, starting with a tightly controlled development sandbox, according to local media.
According to a Friday report by local news outlet Kun, Uzbekistan’s new stablecoin regulatory framework will come into force on Jan. 1, 2026. The new law, signed on Nov. 27, establishes a regulatory sandbox under the purview of the National Agency for Perspective Projects, together with the central bank.
Pilot projects are expected to be implemented to develop a stablecoin-based payment system operating on distributed ledger technology. Starting next year, Uzbekistan-based entities will reportedly be allowed to issue tokenized shares and bonds, and a separate trading platform will be created on licensed stock exchanges for those new assets.
The news follows Uzbekistan’s central bank Chairman Timur Ishmetov announcing in September that studies on digital currencies are underway. At the time, he said crypto activities “should be done under strict control, as it will have a serious impact on monetary policy.”
Related: Crypto on horseback: Journey into Kyrgyzstan’s gold-pegged digital future
CBDCs also on the table
Ishmetov also mentioned central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), but not in their retail form. He explained that “such a currency would not be used in people’s daily lives, but mainly to speed up settlements between commercial or central banks.
Uzbekistan’s National Agency for Prospective Projects issued a directive in late March 2024 to increase monthly fees for crypto market participants in the country. Under the new system, crypto exchanges face a monthly fee equivalent to $20,015 — about double the previous fee.
Related: Kyrgyzstan introduces state crypto reserve concept in new bill
Central Asia not left being left behind
As much of the world develops crypto regulatory frameworks, Central Asia has also progressed. In late October, Kyrgyzstan rolled out a new stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the Kyrgyzstani som, while confirming plans to issue a central bank digital currency and explore a digital asset reserve.
Still, Kazakhstan clearly leads the pack. According to October reports, Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Agency took down 130 crypto platforms involved in money laundering schemes this year. Earlier that month, the country also continued implementing its dual-track approach to digital assets, piloting a CBDC while also backing a state-linked stablecoin.
This followed the launch of the Kazakhstan central bank’s stablecoin pilot project in late September. Also in September, the country established a state-backed crypto reserve in partnership with Binance, holding BNB (BNB).
Magazine: Koreans ‘pump’ alts after Upbit hack, China BTC mining surge: Asia Express
Farmers have warned the government it would be unfair to include farms in the mansion tax as they are working businesses, “not luxury homes”.
Rachel Reeves revealed homes worth £2m or more will be subject to an annual charge on top of council tax from 2028.
Politics latest: Starmer challenged over ‘misleading the public’ with budget tax rises
Her spokesman refused to rule out farms having to pay the mansion tax, which could prove a double hit for farmers after last year’s budget removed inheritance tax relief for farms worth more than £1m.
The Conservatives accused Labour of “waging a war on farmers”, while the Lib Dems said the government has “no understanding of farmers or farms”.
Farmers have been protesting since Ms Reeves’s inheritance tax announcement last year.
She gave them a small concession on Wednesday as she announced farmers and small business owners will be able to transfer up to £1m of any unused inheritance tax allowance to their spouse or civil partner if they die – bringing them in line with homeowners.
Farmers have said this is welcome but does not address the issue completely, as they said many farms will still have to sell land off, or sell up entirely, due to inheritance tax costs.
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Farmers defy ban in budget-day protest
Ms Reeves’s spokesman said there will be “a consultation that will look at different cases” for the mansion tax.
Asked if he could rule out farms having to pay the tax, he said: “There’s a consultation on cases to be accounted for.”
He said the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), which provides property taxation advice to the government, will be carrying out the consultation.
The VOA is also responsible for valuing properties for council tax and business rates.
Read more:
How much is the mansion tax and who will have to pay it?
The main budget announcements
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‘This is not the budget you wanted to deliver’
Farmer Gavin Lane, president of the Country Land and Business Association, which represents rural property, land and business owners, told Sky News: “A farm is not a luxury home. It is a working business.
“If a tax built for high-value homes were ever stretched to cover barns, grain stores, or the land a farmer needs to run their business, it would hit people the policy was never written for.
“There are already clear rules for valuing residential property. This is about council tax on homes, and this system has always been built around residential use, not the land and buildings a farmer relies on to run a business.”
Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride. Pic: PA
Conservative shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride told Sky News: “Labour are waging a war on farmers.
“Having been whacked by the family farm tax last year, farmers now face a double hit with Rachel Reeves’s family home tax.
“Reeves’s farm tax has already placed heavy pressure on many family farms.
“At a time when certainty is essential, this budget has left people feeling that nothing is safe – not their home, their job, their savings, their pension or their farm.
“This was the benefits budget. Rachel Reeves has chosen to put taxes up on hardworking people to pay for more and more welfare.”
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey told Sky News: “The government has once again shown it has no understanding of farmers or their farms.
“For many farmers, their home is their place of work. Some farmers who could be hit by this tax earn less than the minimum wage for doing work that is absolutely crucial to our country.”
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Explained: Budget 2025
Under the mansion tax, officially called the “high-value council tax surcharge”, there will be four bands.
The lowest band, for properties worth between £2m and £2.5m, will pay £2,500.
The highest band, for homes worth £5m or more, will pay £7,500.
Ms Reeves and the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) did not reveal the two middle bands and charges.
But she said the surcharge would be uprated annually by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation.
Blockchain gaming company Wemade is pushing for a Korean won-based stablecoin ecosystem, forming a Global Alliance for KRW Stablecoins (GAKS) with Chainalysis, CertiK and SentBe as founding partners.
Wemade announced that the alliance will support StableNet, a dedicated mainnet for Korean won-backed stablecoins, with publicly released code and a consortium model that aims to meet institutional and regulatory requirements.
Within the partnership, Chainalysis will integrate threat detection and real-time monitoring, while CertiK will handle node validation and security audits.
Money transfer company SentBe will contribute licensed remittance infrastructure across 174 countries. This allows the KRW stablecoin initiative to operate within South Korea’s regulated digital asset ecosystem.
The launch marks a coordinated effort from Wemade to reposition itself as a long-term infrastructure builder after years of setbacks, including token delistings and a bridge hack that undermined investor confidence.
Wemade’s rocky road and stablecoin pivot
Wemade’s push into stablecoin infrastructure follows a turbulent seven-year expansion from a traditional gaming studio into one of South Korea’s most ambitious blockchain builders.
The company launched its blockchain division in 2018 and expanded it from a four-employee team into a 200-person operation. Still, the rapid growth collided with the country’s evolving regulatory landscape, forcing the company to limit its play-to-earn (P2E) offerings to overseas markets.
Much of the pressure faced by Wemade centered on its native WEMIX token. In 2022, South Korean exchanges delisted the asset, citing discrepancies between its reported and actual supply. This resulted in a price drop of over 70% for the token.
The token suffered another major blow in 2024, when a bridge exploit resulted in 9 billion won (about $6 million) in losses. The company’s delayed disclosure attracted scrutiny and eroded further investor trust, leading to a second wave of token delistings.
The stablecoin pivot marks another attempt from Wemade to reset the narrative around the company and reposition its technology toward a more compliant and infrastructure-focused use case.
In a Korea Times report, the company said that it’s developing a KRW-focused stablecoin mainnet while avoiding becoming the stablecoin issuer itself. It’s positioning itself as a technology partner and consortium builder for other South Korean companies.
Related: Upbit hit with $36M Solana hot wallet breach day after $10B Naver deal
South Korea’s post-Terra regulatory landscape
The Terra collapse in 2022 continues to cast a shadow over South Korea’s digital asset policy, leaving lawmakers and regulators particularly sensitive to risks associated with stablecoins.
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Bank of Korea (BOK) have taken uncompromising stances since 2022, pushing for stricter liquidity, oversight and disclosure rules as they work on an upcoming stablecoin framework focused on risk-cointainment.
The central bank also advocated giving banks a leading role in stablecoin issuance, helping to mitigate risks to financial and foreign exchange stability.
The BOK warned that allowing non-banking institutions to take the lead in stablecoin issuance could undermine existing regulations.
Magazine: Koreans ‘pump’ alts after Upbit hack, China BTC mining surge: Asia Express
Major cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin is the latest company to secure a license under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework.
KuCoin’s European arm, KuCoin EU, secured a MiCA license from the Financial Market Authority of Austria, the company said in a statement shared with Cointelegraph on Friday.
The authorization allows KuCoin EU to offer crypto asset services across 29 countries in the European Economic Area (EEA), excluding Malta, according to the exchange’s representatives.
“Securing the MiCA license with our local entity in Austria is a defining milestone in KuCoin’s long-term trust and compliance strategy,” KuCoin CEO BC Wong said, adding that the regulatory framework is “one of the highest regulatory standards worldwide.”
Vienna as a strategic European crypto hub
KuCoin’s MiCA approval follows its license application filed in early 2025, arriving months after several crypto asset providers (CASPs), including Austria-based Bitpanda, had already secured MiCA authorization in other EU member states.
“The decision to choose Austria was primarily driven by the timely implementation of the MiCA accompanying laws, the stable and foreseeable regulatory environment as well as the huge talent pool,” the exchange said in a statement in February.
Alongside KuCoin, Austria’s FMA has issued MiCA licenses to five more CASPs: crypto-friendly Amina Bank, Bitpanda, Bybit, Cryptonow and FIOR Digital.
“This milestone strengthens KuCoin’s commitment to responsible global expansion,” KuCoin CEO Wong said, adding: “Compliance is not simply a regulatory obligation — it is the foundation of our long-term mission to deliver secure, innovative, and accessible digital asset services to users worldwide.”
Related: Blockrise wins Dutch MiCA license, brings Bitcoin-backed loans to EU businesses
Cointelegraph contacted KuCoin for comment regarding the Malta exception, but had not received a response by the time of publication.
As previously mentioned, Malta has issued multiple MiCA licenses to CASPs like Blockchain.com and the Winklevoss twins-owned Gemini exchange. Malta has also emerged as a major opponent of centralized MiCA supervision within the EU, contrary to the position of member states such as France.
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