Uzbekistan tests government bond-backed stablecoin HUMO with merchants

Uzbekistan is testing a government bond-backed stablecoin in the real economy. The HUMO digital token, pegged one-to-one with the Uzbek som, is now being trialed with more than 20 merchants under a regulatory sandbox jointly overseen by the National Agency for Perspective Projects (NAPP) and the Central Bank of Uzbekistan. Instead of being backed by a basket of commercial paper or US Treasuries like Tether or Circle’s USDC, HUMO derives its value from Uzbek sovereign bonds, making it one of the few digital tokens globally to carry explicit state-backed collateral. How HUMO actually works Humo Digital, a subsidiary of Uzbekistan’s national HUMO payment system, is the issuer of the token. Asterium provides the blockchain infrastructure through its Mirasmanda blockchain, handling the technical plumbing of issuance, circulation, and settlement. The HUMO payment system itself has issued over 35 million cards across Uzbekistan and operates a significant network of point-of-sale terminals nationwide. The sandbox pilot is designed to run for three years. The participating merchants are testing the full lifecycle: issuance, circulation, and acceptance of HUMO tokens as payment. Two key mile...