Tether Teams With Georgia to Launch a Government-Backed Lari Stablecoin

Tether announced on May 25 that it plans to launch GELT, a stablecoin representing the Georgian lari, with direct support from the Government of Georgia.

The project would place a national currency onto blockchain rails under a regulatory framework specifically built for stablecoins. Tether called it one of the first joint efforts of its kind anywhere in the world.

🇬🇪 NEW: Tether and the Georgian government plan to launch GEL₮, a Georgian Lari stablecoin under the country’s new digital asset framework. pic.twitter.com/7CHT8R0eHG

— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) May 25, 2026

Tether ranks third among all crypto assets by market capitalization. Its flagship product, USDt, carries a market cap approaching $190 billion and routinely posts 24-hour trading volumes that surpass Visa and Mastercard.

GELT would extend Tether’s reach beyond dollar-denominated stablecoins into jurisdiction-specific fiat products. The company has previously launched stablecoins tied to the Mexican peso and the euro, and has pursued newer U.S.-market offerings following passage of the GENIUS Act.

Tether laid out the broad goals for the project in its announcement:

According to Tether: On May 25, 2026, it plans to launch GELT, a stablecoin representing the Georgian lari, with support from the Government of Georgia. The company called the plan one of the first joint efforts to place a national currency directly onto digital asset rails under a purpose-built stablecoin regulatory framework.

Tether said GELT is designed to support lower transaction costs, near-instant settlement, programmable payments, cross-border commerce, fintech development, digital payments, and broader access to programmable financial infrastructure in Georgia and the wider region. Tether also said further details on structure, rollout, and regulatory implementation will be announced later.

The company tied the announcement to the scale of USDt, saying the flagship stablecoin has a market capitalization approaching $190 billion and 24-hour trading volumes that regularly surpass traditional payment networks such as Visa and Mastercard. CoinGecko’s May 25, 2026 market table ranked Tether third by market capitalization.

Tether said the effort is one of the first joint efforts to place a national currency directly onto digital asset rails under a purpose-built stablecoin regulatory framework.

The company added that further details on GELT’s structure, rollout, and regulatory implementation will be announced later.

Tether plans GELT stablecoin launch with support from Georgian government https://t.co/XIeiKYh07v

— The Block (@TheBlockCo) May 25, 2026

The regulatory groundwork was laid months before the announcement. The National Bank of Georgia published its stablecoin framework on March 10, after studying the U.S. GENIUS Act, the EU’s MiCA regime, Dubai’s VARA rules, and frameworks in the U.K. and Singapore.

The National Bank of Georgia set strict conditions for any stablecoin operating inside the country:

According to National Bank of Georgia: On March 10, 2026, it developed a regulation for the initial offering of stable virtual assets in Georgia. The announcement said the rule is meant to establish a secure and transparent framework, improve consumer protection, and strengthen risk management.

It said any stable virtual asset in circulation must be fully backed by reserve assets and that the framework covers reserve composition, segregated storage of capital and reserves, redemption on request, information transparency, reporting, offering documents, technological and operational risk management, and capital requirements. The central bank also said it evaluated frameworks including the U.S. GENIUS Act, EU MiCA, Dubai VARA rules, the U.K., and Singapore.

Cointelegraph later reported that the March framework also requires prior written consent from the central bank before a stablecoin offering and external auditor verification of issuer documents. Tether said GELT is designed to enable lower transaction costs, near-instant settlement, programmable payments, cross-border commerce, fintech development, and digital payments in Georgia and the wider region.

Tether said further details about GELT’s structure, rollout, and regulatory implementation will be announced later.

That 100% backing requirement and the segregated-reserve mandate mirror what U.S. lawmakers have been pushing through the GENIUS Act. The Block reported that GELT is designed with “substantive compatibility with U.S. stablecoin regulations,” which could matter for cross-border flows between the two jurisdictions.

Cointelegraph added that the Georgian framework requires prior written consent from the central bank before any stablecoin offering and mandates external auditor verification of reserves.

LATEST: ⚡ Tether has unveiled GELT, a stablecoin representing the Georgian lari, in partnership with Georgia’s government as it expands its push into jurisdiction-specific digital assets. pic.twitter.com/Y0Rk5Ur7Qd

— CoinMarketCap (@CoinMarketCap) May 25, 2026

A few things remain open. Tether has not disclosed which blockchain or blockchains GELT will run on, the specific reserve asset composition, or a target launch date.

The central bank’s framework exists on paper, but GELT will be the first real test of how it works in practice.

The broader signal is clear enough. Sovereign stablecoin projects backed by real regulatory teeth are multiplying, and Tether is positioning itself as the infrastructure provider governments reach for first.

If GELT launches under the terms Georgia has published, it becomes one of the most tightly regulated local-currency stablecoins on the market.

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