Centrum Air has added crypto acquiring to its official website. The Asterium platform acted as the project partner, Fintech Retail writes. This is the first instance in Central Asia of a passenger airline accepting digital assets.
What happened
The companies have implemented seamless ticket payments with crypto assets without the need for manual conversion. When booking a flight on the Centrum Air website, the passenger sees the cost in the national currency — Uzbek soums (UZS).
When a client selects payment via the Asterium crypto wallet and confirms the transaction, the service automatically sells the required volume of cryptocurrency at the current exchange rate. After that, fiat funds in soums are sent to the airline’s bank account.
Country and market
Uzbekistan strictly regulates the circulation of crypto assets through the National Agency of Perspective Projects (NAPP), requiring licensing for any operations with digital currencies.
In this context, the partnership with Asterium allows for a legal connection between traditional retail and the crypto market. The platform is also developing its own crypto cards, which support integration with the local Humo payment system, as well as international Visa and Mastercard for everyday purchases.
Why it matters
The integration shows how large businesses can attract an audience with digital assets without violating local financial rules.
The airline completely relieves itself of regulatory and exchange rate risks: it sells tickets for soums and receives soums in its account, while the provider takes on all the work with crypto liquidity.
What’s next
This is a precedent for the market. Now it remains to be seen whether other major Uzbek merchants and services will start connecting similar gateways for the hidden conversion of crypto into fiat when paying for everyday services.