South Korea Proposed Stablecoin Framework and Won-Denominated Pilots
South Korean regulators and financial institutions are advancing a dual-track strategy to institutionalize won-denominated stablecoins through the proposed Digital Asset Basic Act and various private-sector pilot programs. While the Bank of Korea and the Financial Services Commission (FSC) negotiate oversight roles and bank-led issuance models, major domestic banks have already completed tests for offline payments and cross-border remittances to reduce transaction costs.
Aggregated from 6 sources · Updated 24 Aug 2026, 03:12 UTC (UTC)
Coverage Balance
6 sourcesBlindspot Alert: Center Gap
This event is primarily covered by one side of the political spectrum. Niche or counter-narrative facts may be underrepresented.
Facts (9)
- Established
South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the ruling Democratic Party are drafting a consolidated 'Digital Asset Basic Act' to regulate stablecoins and tokenized assets.
- Established
The proposed legislation would classify stablecoins as foreign exchange instruments, placing them under the supervision of domestic foreign exchange authorities.
- Conflict
A disagreement exists between the Bank of Korea, which favors bank-majority ownership of stablecoin issuers, and the FSC, which expresses concern that strict limits may hinder innovation.
- EmergingNiche Signal
Bank of Korea Governor Shin Hyun-song has publicly advocated for the introduction of won-denominated stablecoins alongside CBDCs and deposit tokens.
- EmergingNiche Signal
KB Financial Group completed a won-denominated stablecoin pilot that reportedly reduced cross-border remittance fees by 87% compared to the SWIFT network.
- EmergingNiche Signal
Kbank, BPMG Group, and HashKey Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop won-denominated stablecoin infrastructure for a Korea-Hong Kong payment corridor.
- EmergingNiche Signal
The draft Digital Asset Basic Act proposes exempting small-scale stablecoin payments for goods and services from formal foreign exchange reporting requirements.
- EmergingNiche Signal
Hana Bank invested approximately $700 million into Dunamu, the parent company of the Upbit exchange, to become its fourth-largest shareholder.
- EmergingNiche Signal
Stablecoin holdings at South Korea’s five major exchanges reached 607.1 billion won by February 2026, a 6.9-fold increase compared to July 2024.