stable coins

Story: Uzbekistan Launches HUMO Stablecoin Pilot with 20 Merchants Under Regulatory Oversight

By Steven Anderson

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What Regulators Are Actually Watching. It's not just about whether the payments go through.

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Blockchain Infrastructure and the Merchant Testing Ground. More than 20 merchants are participating, testing HUMO payments across various goods and services.

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Uzbekistan is running a live payments test. The country's first government bond-backed stablecoin, called HUMO, is now moving through a formal pilot with more than 20 merchants,…

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Humo Digital sits at the center of it all. The company was officially registered by the National Agency for Prospective Projects, known as NAPP, on Monday, marking the formal…

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The trial runs 12 months. But the full project could stretch to three years.

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It's not just about whether the payments go through. Regulators are scrutinizing a pretty wide set of risk factors — collateral adequacy, cybersecurity, consumer protection,…

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No formal approvals exist beyond the pilot phase. That's worth saying clearly. Whatever merchants and consumers experience over the next 12 months, nothing gets scaled or…

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The pilot's design requires the HUMO token to maintain its peg to the som at all times, with government securities as backing.

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See also: SIX and TWINT Launch Swiss Franc Stablecoin Testing in Major Financial Initiative

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The pilot also aims to integrate blockchain infrastructure with the payment-processing systems of participating banks.

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It's worth noting that Uzbekistan didn't just invent this framework on the fly. A regulatory sandbox structure was approved in November 2025, and that framework specifically…

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Stablecoin adoption has grown sharply across Central Asia and other emerging markets in recent years, driven partly by currency volatility concerns and partly by a genuine demand…

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NAPP's registration of Humo Digital wasn't a rubber stamp. The agency is taking a strategic role in pushing digital financial solutions forward while keeping the central bank…

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More context: Circles $400 Million Tazapay Deal Targets Stablecoins Last-Mile Banking Gap

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Ongoing assessments will run throughout the 12-month trial. The Central Bank and NAPP will track compliance, flag risks, and collect data that feeds into whatever comes next.

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