In the context of the accelerated reshaping of the global digital financial landscape, offshore RMB stablecoins are becoming a strategic high ground that countries are competing to establish. Recently, a stablecoin named AxCNH has attracted market attention. Launched by AnchorX in 2023, it has been licensed by the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) in Kazakhstan, allowing it to issue stablecoins within the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC). This is not only Kazakhstan's first such license but also marks a deep cooperation between China and Kazakhstan in the field of digital financial innovation. Can the emergence of AxCNH become a "digital bridge" for the internationalization of the RMB and challenge the hegemony of the US dollar?
- AxCNH: The "Digital Bridge" of Financial Innovation between China and Kazakhstan
AxCNH is a digital stablecoin pegged 1:1 to offshore RMB (CNH), launched by AnchorX in 2023.
Compliance First: AnchorX has received permission from the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) to issue stablecoins within the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC). This is the first such license in Kazakhstan, making AnchorX a pioneer in the region's digital currency regulatory field.
Operational Mechanism: AxCNH is fully collateralized by liquid offshore RMB reserves held by a regulated custodian bank, allowing for 1:1 redemption at any time. This stablecoin enables instant cross-border settlement at the lowest cost and is fully compliant with anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) regulations.
Multi-Chain Deployment: AxCNH is available on the Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain (BNB Chain), and Conflux Network blockchains, compatible with mainstream wallets, decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, and exchanges.
- Geopolitical Financial Breakthrough: The "New Engine" of China-Kazakhstan Cooperation
During the period of reshaping the global geopolitical economic landscape, trade between China and Kazakhstan has been warming year by year, with bilateral trade exceeding $30 billion in 2023. Central Asia has become a key pivot for China's "Belt and Road" initiative. AxCNH, anchored to offshore RMB, directly opens up the digital financial channel between China and Kazakhstan.
Efficiency Improvement: Previously, trade in Central Asia relied on US dollar settlements, facing issues such as exchange rate fluctuations, high fees, and slow transaction times. AxCNH supports 24/7 cross-border settlements, reducing costs by over 30% compared to traditional bank wire transfers, making it more efficient for Chinese companies to export goods to Central Asia and for Kazakh companies to procure Chinese equipment.
National Endorsement: The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), as Kazakhstan's "financial open experiment," issued the first stablecoin license to AxCNH, essentially endorsing digital financial innovation at the national level. This not only allows Kazakhstan to ride the fast train of China's digital economy but also strengthens the synergy between its own financial system and the Chinese market through the offshore RMB anchor, potentially attracting other Central Asian countries to follow suit, forming a "digital RMB - AxCNH - Central Asia financial ecosystem" linkage.
- Technological Ecosystem and Team Capital: "Chinese Power Output" and "Wall Street + Chinese Tycoon" Ambitions
"Chinese Power Output" in Blockchain Infrastructure: AxCNH has chosen a multi-chain layout with Ethereum, Binance Chain, and Conflux, reflecting the "invisible penetration" of Chinese blockchain technology. Conflux, as a representative of compliant public chains in China, has been included in projects by the Ministry of Science and Technology, and its deep binding with AxCNH signifies that Chinese blockchain underlying technology is beginning to serve cross-border financial scenarios.
"Wall Street + Chinese Tycoon" Ambitions: The project is led by Hill Wang, founder and CEO of AnchorX, who was a managing partner at Hony Ventures and graduated from Stanford University and Harvard University. AnchorX's strategic partners include significant players from China: Hony Capital, an investment fund managing $16 billion in assets, supported by Lenovo's parent company, Legend Holdings; and Conflux Network, the first public blockchain network in China compliant with domestic regulatory requirements, used by the Ministry of Science and Technology for related projects.
Capital Side: Hony manages $16 billion, focusing on industrial investments in China. AxCNH could become a "digital payment channel" for its layout in Central Asian resources (such as Kazakhstan's uranium mines and oil) — using AxCNH to inject capital into Central Asian projects and repatriate funds, avoiding the risk of US dollar depreciation while extending RMB asset allocation overseas.
Compliance Side: Leveraging Kazakhstan's "financial experiment," the model of "stablecoin + cross-border trade + compliance regulation" can be tested first. If China relaxes digital asset regulations in the future, the experience can be quickly replicated in the domestic market, essentially a financial innovation game of "overseas pilot, reverse influence on domestic policy."
- Types of RMB Stablecoins and Regulatory Trends
Major Brands: Currently, the main brands of RMB stablecoins include CNH₮ (Tether), CNHC (Trust Reserve / former CNHC Group), ACNH (Asian Digital Bank), and AxCNH (AnchorX / Conflux).
Regulatory Trends: Hong Kong's "Fiat-Currency-Backed Stablecoin Regulation" will take effect on August 1, 2025, initially issuing limited licenses to a few companies. Mainland China has banned cryptocurrency trading, but the practice of exporters using USDT/USDC for payments at "private exchange rates" has become an issue, leading JD.com and Ant Group to lobby for the lifting of the ban on offshore RMB stablecoins. Emerging countries overseas, such as Kazakhstan and Malaysia, are also beginning to accept RMB stablecoins as a basis for cross-border payment infrastructure.
- Risks and Challenges: Regulation, Volatility, and Ecological Competition
Despite the broad prospects, AxCNH also faces challenges:
Regulatory Gray Area: Although Kazakhstan has issued a license, at the international level, the G20 continues to tighten regulations on stablecoins. AxCNH, pegged to offshore RMB, involves cross-border capital flows, and the People's Bank of China is sensitive to "offshore-onshore RMB interaction." If money laundering or illegal capital outflows occur, it may trigger an upgrade in regulatory cooperation between China and Kazakhstan, or even a suspension of operations.
Reserve Asset Risk: AxCNH relies on offshore RMB reserves. If the RMB exchange rate fluctuates significantly in the short term, can the custodian bank's reserves fully support redemptions?
Ecological Competition: USDT, USDC, and other stablecoins already occupy the Central Asian market on Binance Chain and Ethereum. To capture market share, AxCNH needs to persuade local exchanges and merchants to replace their systems, while the US dollar stablecoins are backed by American capital and payment networks. This "RMB stablecoin vs. US dollar stablecoin" competition in Central Asia hides deeper geopolitical financial game logic regarding the outcome.
Conclusion:
AxCNH is not just a stablecoin; it is a "geoeconomic wager" between China and Kazakhstan in the digital financial era — betting on Chinese blockchain technology, RMB assets, and cross-border trade demand to carve out a new financial path in Central Asia that bypasses the US dollar system. Every step of its progress is rewriting the financial game rules of the "Belt and Road" initiative. In the future, if AxCNH successfully establishes its model, it is expected to become a "digital RMB overseas stronghold," promoting the internationalization of digital RMB, the digitization of Central Asian finance, and providing scenarios for the compliance testing of DeFi. RMB stablecoins are at the intersection of the internationalization of the RMB and the trends of Web 3.0, and their development will bring a more diversified and balanced evolution to the global monetary system.
Related Reading: Chinese Blockchain Company Conflux Launches Offshore RMB-Supported Stablecoin
Original Article: “Offshore RMB Stablecoin AxCNH Receives Approval from Kazakhstan: Can It Challenge the US Dollar's Hegemony?”
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