Tether, the issuer of the dollar-pegged USDT stablecoin, has signed a partnership with the Government of Georgia to launch GEL, a new stablecoin representing the Georgian lari on a one-to-one basis. The announcement was published on 25 May 2026 and frames the project as one of the first national-currency stablecoins issued under a purpose-built regulatory framework.
The deal
According to Tether official release, GEL will be a fully reserved digital token redeemable one-for-one for Georgian lari, designed to serve as digital infrastructure for payments, financial inclusion and cross-border settlement (per Tether.io). Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, National Bank of Georgia President Natia Turnava and Member of Parliament Vakhtang Turnava were cited in the announcement as backing the initiative.
Regulatory backdrop
The launch follows stablecoin rules issued by the National Bank of Georgia in early 2026. NBG Governor Natela Turnava signed an order establishing the legal framework for fiat-pegged stablecoins, requiring issuers to register with the central bank as virtual asset service providers and to maintain 100 percent reserve backing held separately from company funds (per Blockhead). Coinpedia notes that Georgia is positioning itself as a regional digital-economy hub in the South Caucasus through the regime.
What GEL is meant to do
Tether says GEL will enable lower transaction costs, near-instant settlement and programmable payments tied to the lari (per Bitcoin.com). The token is expected to interoperate with international settlement systems, opening the door for Georgian merchants and remittance flows to use a regulated lari-denominated digital asset rather than relying on US-dollar stablecoins for cross-border payments.
Why it matters beyond Georgia
The Tether-Georgia partnership is being watched closely by Gulf regulators evaluating fiat-pegged stablecoins for domestic currencies. The UAE Central Bank dirham-backed stablecoin framework, finalised in 2024, sets out comparable reserve and licensing requirements, and Gulf-based issuers have publicly explored similar arrangements (per Coin360). No public launch date for GEL has been set, with Tether and the Georgian government saying further details on timing, custody and on-chain deployment will follow.
