Kyrgyzstan launches gold-backed USDKG stablecoin

BISHKEK. Nov 13 (Interfax) - Kyrgyzstan has issued a first $50.1 million of its USDKG national stablecoin, backed by gold and pegged to the dollar, the State Financial Market Regulation and Supervision Service said.

The service registered the issue consisting of 50.1 million tokens on October 31. USDKG is pegged to the dollar at 1:1 ratio.

The tokens were issued by OJSC Virtual Asset Issuer, solely owned by the Kyrgyz Finance Ministry.

"To date, 185 licenses have been issued in the republic to virtual asset exchange operators, 13 licenses to trading operators and 10 mining certificates. The total turnover of virtual asset service providers is 1,784.18 billion som [$20.4 billion at the current exchange rate]," the regulatory service said.

The Finance Ministry has said USDKG was being launched in an approved pilot project to develop the digital economy and strengthen financial sovereignty.

Kyrgyzstan last week started to test its national KGSToken (KGST), pegged to the local currency, the som, on cryptocurrency exchanges to assess compatibility and technical stability. The KGST stablecoin was developed on the BNB Smart Chain (BSC) blockchain and has undergone a smart contract audit and expert review. It is pegged to the som at 1:1.

Initially, the KGST stablecoin will be listed on local cryptocurrency exchanges in Kyrgyzstan and the CIS countries, followed by a number of global trading platforms, including Binance, Coinbase and others. A mobile app for KGSToken holders will be available soon.