For this, a blockchain-based payment system will be created. The use of stablecoins will speed up and reduce the cost of transactions.

Uzbekistan will test crypto-asset payments in foreign trade and retail. On March 18, Vyacheslav Pak, First Deputy Director of the National Agency for Advanced Projects (NAPP), announced this at a press conference with journalists, reports a correspondent from Spot.

“We plan to test crypto-asset payments in projects that are already scheduled for implementation. First — the creation of a payment system based on a distributed blockchain ledger. Second — its use in foreign trade settlements. Third — its use in retail,” he said.

The First Deputy Director of NAPP noted that using stablecoins allows intermediaries to be eliminated, reduces transaction costs, and significantly increases transaction speed. According to him, traditional foreign trade operations using the interbank SWIFT system can take from three days up to a week.

“If a blockchain-based payment system is created, operations will take literally minutes or seconds, bypassing all intermediaries. You know how settlements happen now: Bank ‘A’ transfers funds to Bank ‘B,’ and at each stage, a separate fee is charged. Here, by eliminating intermediaries, fees and transactional costs are minimized,” Pak emphasized.

In November 2025, Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a decree on the development of financial technologies in Uzbekistan. It provides for the launch of a special legal regime (“sandbox”) in the field of payments using stablecoins.

In March, NAPP updated the requirements for advertising services related to crypto-assets in Uzbekistan. According to the new regulations, companies must indicate that crypto-assets are not a means of payment in Uzbekistan, “except in cases established by legislative acts.”

Source: Spot (March 18, 2026), based on INFOLINE materials.