Stablecoins, tokenization, and CBDC: how the financial system is changing and what it means for Uzbekistan

Mu Changchun, General Director of the Digital Currency Institute of the People's Bank of China

Pavel Khristolyubov, Operations Director of Wallet in Telegram

Samigjon Inogamov, Director of the Monetary and Credit Policy Department of the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Rajesh Sabari, Commercial Director of Liminal Custody

Saida Jafar, Managing Director for International Affairs at Circle

Vyacheslav Pak, First Deputy Director of the National Agency for Strategic Projects

Stablecoins: There Is No One-Size-Fits-All Solution for All Countries

Mu Changchun. The choice between CBDCs, stablecoins, and other digital instruments depends on the specific jurisdiction. It is influenced by capital flow controls, the level of capital market development, and regulatory specifics. Therefore, it is incorrect to claim that one technology is universally superior to another—each country must base its approach on its own conditions.

Pavel. The crypto industry has already evolved from a community of individual users to institutional adoption. Currently, key issues revolve around regulation, cross-border flows, user protection, and the fight against fraud. The next stage is to make digital assets part of the everyday financial life of ordinary users.

Samigjon. In Uzbekistan, the market for regulated stablecoins is just beginning to take shape, yet there is already demand for fast and convenient cross-border payments. According to him, the country has the opportunity to first assess the real benefits of the technology and only then scale its usage.

Cross-Border Payments: Technology Does Not Solve Everything

Rajesh. One of the most promising scenarios for stablecoins is cross-border B2B payments and settlements for small and medium-sized businesses. However, even if the transfer itself becomes fast and cheap, the "last mile" problem remains—currency liquidity in emerging markets.

Therefore, it is necessary to consider the cost of the entire transaction, including conversion and the movement of funds between financial systems. At the same time, such processes must include AML checks, sanctions screening, and other compliance procedures.

Saida. Technologies allow for new solutions to problems that the financial system has not been able to fully resolve so far. More than a billion people worldwide remain without access to banking services, while cross-border transfers can take several days and be very expensive for users.

At the same time, approaches across different countries should not be uniform: each jurisdiction must test solutions, evaluate results, and be ready to adjust regulations as the market develops.

Tokenization: The Next Challenge for Regulators

Vyacheslav. Blockchain has the potential to significantly change the securities market and the payment system, but along with advantages come new regulatory questions.

In the case of stablecoins, the issue is how to control AML risks, account for digital assets in monetary statistics, and integrate them into the traditional financial system.

The issue of tokenizing stocks and bonds is even more complex. Currently, there is no unified global approach to regulating a fully digital securities market. For example, if a tokenized stock grants the holder voting rights, it is necessary to ensure that this right can be exercised within the digital system as well.

Therefore, regulators are forced to simultaneously create new rules and seek practical models that can already be applied in the market.

Rajesh. For institutional investors, tokenization can be particularly interesting from the perspective of collateral management. For instance, tokenized government bonds can be moved faster and used as collateral for other operations.

In the future, this could also simplify access for foreign investors to emerging market assets, as part of the identification and other data can be transferred to the blockchain. However, for the institutional market, it is necessary to retain familiar control mechanisms—key management, asset segregation, whitelists, and other tools.

The Main Condition Is Trust and Clear Rules

Saida. New financial technologies cannot become mainstream without user trust. When a person pays with a card or cash today, they rarely think about the security of the transaction—because behind the system lies a clear infrastructure of trust and regulation.

Therefore, the task of regulators is not merely to permit the use of new technology, but to create rules that simultaneously protect consumers and allow the industry to develop.

Mu Changchun. Regulation should be based on the principle of "same business, same risk, same rules." In his view, digital assets should not receive separate rules simply because they use new technology.

At the same time, it is necessary to distinguish real economic activity from operations within the crypto ecosystem—for example, arbitrage, internal redistribution of funds, and other operations that may generate large volumes of transactions but do not reflect real economic activity.