Tether Aims to Help Georgia Launch National Stablecoin

Stablecoin issuer Tether is working with the nation of Georgia to launch a national stablecoin.

The collaboration marks one of the first efforts to put a national currency, the Georgian Lari, onto digital asset rails governed by a purpose-built stablecoin regulatory framework, Tether said in its announcement Monday (May 25).

“Stablecoins are no longer a niche financial instrument. They are becoming part of the infrastructure layer for global finance,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether.

“Georgia has moved early to create serious regulatory architecture for digital assets and stablecoins, and that clarity creates the foundation for real innovation and adoption.”

According to Tether, the planned coin, known as GEL₮, will function as a digital representation of the Lari, and is designed to support cross-border commerce, digital payments, FinTech development and wider access to programmable financial infrastructure in Georgia and the broader region.

Tether, issuer of the largest stablecoin, adds that the announcement builds on years of work by Georgia’s government and central bank to promote digital assets and create regulations that will attract related businesses.

“Importantly, Georgia’s framework has been designed to achieve substantive compatibility with emerging U.S. stablecoin regulation, including the GENIUS Act,  positioning Georgia among the earliest countries seeking direct regulatory interoperability with the evolving U.S. digital asset framework,” the announcement added.

PYMNTS examined the changing regulatory landscape around digital assets last week, after the European Union said it was reexamining whether its Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) policy framework is still “fit for purpose” two years after its passage.

“That wording matters,” PYMNTS wrote. “Regulators do not typically reopen flagship frameworks so quickly, unless they believe either that the market moved faster than expected, competitive dynamics have changed, geopolitical pressure is forcing adaptation, or some combination of the three.”

The PYMNTS Intelligence and Citi report “Chain Reaction: Regulatory Clarity as the Catalyst for Blockchain Adoption” argues that blockchain’s next leap will be guided by regulation. MiCA initially gave Europe a substantial first-mover edge over other major markets.

“But fast forward to 2026, and the U.S. has been working to close that gap, aided by the about-face in digital asset policy driven by the current U.S. administration,” PYMNTS wrote.

Given recent crypto-related moves by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), “it appears that, at least by any historical measure, crypto’s relationship with regulators in the U.S. has matured from adversarial to iterative,” the report added.