Kyrgyzstan’s central bank taps Certik to guard Digital Som rollout with Web3’s largest security infrastructure

The National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic’s (NBKR) plan to present a working digital currency by the end of the year took a major leap after the Kyrgyz central bank named Web3 security firm CertiK in a long-term strategic partnership for digital som security and digital asset oversight

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Kyrgyzstan’s central bank and the blockchain-security firm lands just over a week after President Sadyr Japarov set a December 31, 2026, deadline on delivering a working digital som pilot platform. 

CertiK has contributed to digital asset regulatory and policy discussions across multiple markets. This includes providing technical advisory support to regulators in the United States and responding to regulatory consultations issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). 

What is the digital som?

The digital som that Certik is now helping to build with the Kyrgyz central bank became legal tender in the country under an April 2025 constitutional law, putting it further along in the development phase than the roughly 130-plus countries still at the hypothetical policy paper phase of their CBDC exploration. 

Kyrgyzstan plans to join an exclusive list of the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Nigeria as the only countries with live versions of a national retail CBDC. 

The commitment to quickly push the CBDC through development comes as a response to real demand. The country is building a cheaper, faster, and traceable fund transfer route for Kyrgyz citizens sending funds from abroad. Remittances account for roughly 30% of the country’s GDP. 

Kyrgyzstan has set other ambitious timelines for the digital som, with real-user testing set to start in 2027 ahead of a stage-by-stage national rollout of the currency. 

What is Certik helping the Kyrgyz central bank build? 

According to the announcement, the MoU sets up two broad tracks of cooperation: technical and supervisory.

On the technical track, CertiK will work with the NBKR on blockchain and digital asset security, security assessments, formal verification, cybersecurity, and operational resilience. In broader details, it means Certik will stress-test the digital som’s code and infrastructure before and after launch, including setting up contingencies for failure scenarios rather than reacting to them after the fact.

The second regulatory and supervisory track covers AML/CFT controls, digital asset custody, security standards, and licensing requirements. The central bank is exploring using CertiK’s Supervision and Compliance tools to gain real-time oversight of on-chain risk rather than after-the-fact reporting.

“The Memorandum of Understanding that we are signing today establishes a framework for further dialogue and cooperation,” said Sanzhar Abdygaziev, a member of the NBKR’s Management Board. Abdygaziev added that Certik’s blockchain and digital asset security, cybersecurity, AML/CFT, and transaction monitoring capabilities lined up with the bank’s expectations of a partner.

Speaking about the MoU framework, CertiK Co-Founder and CEO Ronghui Gu said: “Digital asset infrastructure requires security and risk management to be considered from the earliest stages of design through ongoing operation.” He added that the firm is looking forward to “supporting the secure development of the country’s digital asset ecosystem” through the long-term relationship.

The stakes behind the CertiK and NBKR MoU can be counted in real numbers. CertiK’s own data counts losses to hacks, scams, and exploits at roughly $3.35 billion in 2025. The digital asset sector has already lost $1.32 billion in the first half of 2026.

The central bank of a country with an economy the size of Kyrgyzstan’s can not afford the reputational hits and secondary damages that such events cause.

Kyrgyzstan is expanding to match growing digital economy

Kyrgyzstan earned the “Cryptostan” nickname for the country’s digital asset economy growth, which has landed alongside a CBDC push from a government that is advised by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.

The Central Asian country has already issued two stablecoins, a gold-backed token and a som-pegged one. Licensed Kyrgyz crypto firms handled roughly $30 billion in transactions in 2025, per government figures, up from about $60 million in 2022.

Regulators’ oversight framework has followed the growth inside the country. As Cryptopolitan reported recently, the interior ministry disclosed that police are now dealing with fraud, money laundering, and cross-border tracing problems among the 90 criminal cases involving cryptocurrency it has opened since the start of 2026.

The country’s first state-backed crypto exchange, set up by the Ministry of Finance at the end of 2024, has also entered voluntary liquidation this month after falling behind on regulatory filings and tax obligations.

The pressure on oversight has come from the outside too. A Kyrgyz bank and local crypto platforms were also caught in the blast radius of the EU’s most recent sanctions package over alleged links to Russian sanctions evasion.