Asterium

What Asterium Is and the Problem It Addresses

Asterium is a regulated digital asset infrastructure platform headquartered in Uzbekistan. It operates under the oversight of Uzbekistan's National Agency for Perspective Projects (NAPP), positioning itself as a compliant bridge between the country's traditional financial system and the broader digital asset economy.

Uzbekistan has been among the more proactive Central Asian nations in establishing a crypto regulatory framework, but before Asterium, regulated crypto activity in the country was limited to just two licensed platforms. Uzbek residents were largely dependent on foreign exchanges that lacked local fiat rails, local-language support, and alignment with the national payment infrastructure. Asterium was formed to fill that gap — a locally licensed, fully regulated entity offering exchange, custody, wallet, and asset tokenization services calibrated to Uzbekistan's legal and financial environment.

Regulatory Foundation

Asterium received its licenses from NAPP across a series of approvals in early 2025. In March 2025, the company obtained its license to operate a crypto store. On April 15, 2025, it secured authorization to operate as a full cryptocurrency exchange, becoming Uzbekistan's third officially registered crypto exchange platform.

The company was incorporated with a charter capital of UZS 30 billion and is registered in the Unified Electronic Register of Crypto Assets under Uzbekistan's regulatory framework, governed by the Regulation on Licensing Procedures for Service Providers in the Circulation of Crypto Assets (Reg. No. 3380, August 2022). Its operations span four licensed activity types: cryptocurrency exchange, crypto store, crypto depository, and digital wallet services.

Core Platform Services

Asterium operates as an integrated financial infrastructure layer with several interconnected components:

Exchange: The platform allows users to buy and sell digital assets including BTC, ETH, and USDT, with pairs typically quoted against USDT or the Uzbekistani Som (UZS).

Crypto Depository and Custody: Asterium holds a license for custodial services, enabling secure, regulated storage of digital assets under government-supervised conditions.

Digital Wallet: Users access and manage holdings through Asterium's wallet interface, which supports both crypto and fiat conversion and integrates with national payment infrastructure.

Real-World Asset Tokenization: Beyond trading, Asterium has extended into tokenizing traditional financial instruments, producing two distinct asset-backed tokens — HUMO and AUZ.

HUMO Token: Sovereign Bond-Backed Digital Asset

HUMO Token is Uzbekistan's first sovereign-backed digital asset, issued in partnership with HUMO Digital, a subsidiary of Uzbekistan's national payment system. Each HUMO Token is pegged at a fixed rate of 1 HUMO = 1,000 Uzbekistani Som (UZS) and is collateralized by government bonds of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The token operates on the Mirasmanda blockchain platform and enables 24/7 transactions with near-instant settlement times. Unlike stablecoins backed by foreign currency or commercial bank deposits, HUMO's collateral consists of sovereign government bonds, giving it a positioning within Central Asian digital finance designed to combine fiat stability with blockchain transparency and programmability.

Asterium acts as the custodial institution for HUMO, managing the underlying government bond collateral and ensuring compliance with Uzbekistan's regulatory requirements. HUMO's design supports cross-border payment use cases, with early integration expanding toward Georgia and Kazakhstan. The token carries established payment rail partnerships with Visa, MasterCard, and UnionPay.

In April 2026, HUMO Token was listed on Coinstore, a global digital asset exchange, marking its first major international market presence.

AUZ Token: Fractional Gold Ownership

AUZ is Asterium's gold-backed digital token, launched in April 2026. Each AUZ token represents one gram of physical gold held at a regulated custodian bank, with prices aligned to Central Bank of Uzbekistan benchmarks. The token supports fractional ownership from as little as 0.01 grams, dramatically lowering the entry point for gold investment compared to traditional bullion markets.

Key features of AUZ:

• 1:1 physical backing: Each token is issued against physically held gold with periodic custodian verification.
• Continuous trading: Unlike traditional gold markets, AUZ is tradeable 24/7 within the Asterium ecosystem.
• Fiat integration: AUZ connects to the HUMO payment infrastructure, enabling practical, everyday spending.
• Regulated redemption: Token holders can redeem for fiat value through regulated channels.

AUZ operates in the growing tokenized gold segment alongside PAXG (Paxos Gold) and XAUT (Tether Gold). Its primary differentiators are regulatory authorization under Uzbekistan's NAPP framework, its lower minimum entry point, and its embedding within a national payment network rather than operating as a standalone speculative instrument.

Real-World Payment Integration

In April 2026, Asterium expanded beyond exchange and tokenization services into real-world merchant payments. The company integrated with Rahmat — Uzbekistan's largest digital payment platform — and Octobank to enable users to spend digital assets directly at point-of-sale merchant locations.

Active use cases include:

• Payments at cafes and restaurants through the Rahmat merchant network
• Airline ticket purchases via partnerships with Centrum Air and Qanot Sharq
• Retail expansion planned to major CIS and Uzbekistan supermarket chains

Merchants in the network avoid cryptocurrency volatility exposure. Asterium handles real-time settlement, compliance, and backend conversion, delivering payment to merchants in local currency while users transact in digital assets.

Team and Leadership

Asterium is led by CEO Komilkhodja Sultonov, who has guided the company through its licensing phases and early product launches. Nadejda Cotsaga serves as co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer. The core team comprises fintech and digital asset regulation experts with backgrounds in compliant blockchain infrastructure development.

Tax and Regulatory Environment

Uzbekistan maintains a 0% crypto tax regime projected to remain in effect through at least 2029, providing a favorable structural environment for digital asset businesses. Asterium has been built specifically to operate within this regulatory perimeter, offering Uzbek retail and institutional users a domestically supervised alternative to foreign exchanges, with the full backing of national licensing authority.

Ecosystem Position

Asterium is a centralized exchange and regulated infrastructure platform focused on the Uzbek and broader CIS market. Its proprietary tokens (HUMO and AUZ) operate on the Mirasmanda blockchain platform, reflecting a deliberate focus on domestic regulatory integration and national payment system compatibility. The company's near-term international strategy centers on exchange listings such as Coinstore and expanding cross-border settlement rails into neighboring countries.