Kazakhstan has unveiled a new stablecoin called Evo (symbol: KZTE), which is pegged 1-to-1 with the country’s national currency, the tenge. This project is intended to strengthen the connection between the world of cryptocurrencies and the traditional financial system, by leveraging modern blockchain technology and global payment networks.
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What is Evo and How It Was Made
The National Bank of Kazakhstan has launched Evo under its Digital Assets Regulatory Sandbox, a controlled environment where new financial technologies can be tested before full rollout.
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Issuers of Evo are local players: the Intebix crypto exchange and Eurasian Bank, with support from Solana (blockchain provider) and Mastercard (payments network).
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Solana provides the technical infrastructure, chosen for its speed and low transaction costs. Meanwhile, Mastercard’s role is to help link Evo with global stablecoin issuers and make it usable for payments and card-based transactions.
Cointelegraph
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CoinLaw
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Goals and Use Cases
Evo is described as a national stablecoin, designed to help bridge crypto with traditional finance (“TradFi”).
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Potential uses include:
Improving the crypto-fiat exchange channel so people can more easily move between tenge and crypto assets.
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Enabling transactions via crypto-linked cards.
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CoinLaw
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Expanding financial inclusion by giving more people access to digital finance tools.
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Role of Regulation & the Central Bank
Although Evo is issued by private entities (Intebix and Eurasian Bank), the National Bank of Kazakhstan is actively involved, offering the regulatory framework and oversight. Importantly, the central bank is not directly issuing the coin but supervising within the sandbox.
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The sandbox allows real-world testing under regulation, helping ensure stability, safety, and legal compliance before broader adoption.
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Why This Matters
Evo is the first stablecoin in Kazakhstan denominated in tenge. As such, it marks a milestone in the country’s digital finance strategy.
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This move comes as part of broader efforts by Kazakhstan to modernize its financial system, including the earlier launch of a digital tenge (a central bank digital currency) in 2023.
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It also reflects global trends where governments are exploring stablecoins and blockchain as tools to make financial services more accessible, efficient, and integrated with global payment networks.
CoinLaw
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Challenges and Considerations
As with any new digital currency, there are risks: regulatory risk, technical security, user protection, and ensuring that the stablecoin remains properly pegged to the tenge without large fluctuations.
Adoption will depend on how well people understand and trust stablecoins, and how easily they can use them in daily life (shops, payments, etc.).
Ensuring interoperability with existing banking systems, and managing cross-border use cases, will be key if Evo is to succeed beyond pilot stage.
Looking Ahead
Kazakhstan’s Evo stablecoin project is now live as a pilot. Over time, its effectiveness will be measured by how smoothly transactions happen, how many people adopt it, and how safely it operates within the rules. If successful, Evo could serve as a model for other countries seeking to combine blockchain innovation with strong government oversight.
