Kyrgyzstan is moving forward with its national cryptocurrency strategy, launching a stablecoin and preparing for the public sector rollout of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), according to Binance co-founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ).
The new stablecoin, dubbed KGST, is pegged 1:1 to the national currency, Kyrgyzstan’s som, and is registered in the State Register of Digital Assets. This is different from the USDKG, a dollar-backed stablecoin backed by a $500 million gold reserve that the Kyrgyz Finance Ministry plans to launch in the third quarter.
Additionally, the country’s CBDC, Digital Mon, is now legally recognized and is expected to be rolled out for government-related payments, CZ said.
This follows President Sadyr Japarov’s April decision to amend the country’s constitutional law, granting the digital Som the status of legal tender once it is fully launched by the National Bank.
Kyrgyzstan is also building an extensive crypto infrastructure. It has created a national cryptocurrency reserve that includes BNB, launched law enforcement training and signed the Binance Academy to partner with 10 universities.
Zhao noted that Binance has also localized its app in Kyrgyz and hosted a meeting of 1,000 people in the capital Bishkek.
Sign, where CZ’s family fund YZi Labs is an investor, is also working with the Kyrgyz government on smart contract infrastructure, he said.