Financial institution of Korea Exploring Utilizing ‘Stablecoins Issued by the Non-public Sector’

The Financial institution of Korea is contemplating linking its deposit tokens to a public blockchain, a transfer that may place its state-backed digital foreign money alongside private-sector stablecoins working on open networks.

The tokens shall be “a kind of stablecoin issued throughout the digital foreign money system constructed and operated by the Financial institution of Korea,” the financial institution’s Deputy Governor Lee Jong-ryeol mentioned in a press release Decrypt has confirmed with native sources.

“We’re contemplating a path wherein it is going to coexist throughout the total digital foreign money system along with stablecoins issued by the non-public sector,” the Deputy Governor mentioned on the eighth Blockchain Leaders Membership held on the Lotte Resort in Jung-gu, Seoul on Monday.

Lee mentioned the initiative is being pursued from “a nationwide perspective” and falls beneath the Financial institution of Korea’s duty as a financial and overseas alternate authority, based on native information outlet News1 Korea.

The proposal has raised questions on how such a hybrid system may operate throughout jurisdictions.

“It’s not clear how the hybrid mannequin of tokenized deposit plus private-sector stablecoin will essentially obtain the acknowledged goal of defending financial sovereignty,” Peter Chung, head of analysis at Singapore-based algorithmic crypto buying and selling agency Presto Labs, advised Decrypt.

“Stablecoins on public blockchains shall be free to cross borders,” Chung mentioned, noting that “the way in which to guard financial sovereignty will not be by tinkering with token design or community structure, however by sound financial and monetary insurance policies.”

In the meantime, the Deputy Governor additionally raised issues over the rising use of worldwide stablecoins in South Korea, calling their inflow “essentially the most regarding half.”

The official warned that utilizing them as foreign money substitutes might result in violations of financial sovereignty, weakened coverage controls, monetary instability, and elevated cash laundering dangers.

Within the first quarter of 2025, South Korea’s crypto exchanges transferred round $40.6 billion (56.8 trillion received) price of digital belongings overseas.

Practically half, $19.5 billion (26.87 trillion received), was in stablecoins comparable to USDT and USDC, based on Maeil Enterprise Newspaper, a neighborhood information outlet.

The problem is gaining traction amongst South Korean political leaders as effectively. Democratic Celebration of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung has proposed launching a won-backed stablecoin to scale back capital outflows and reliance on dollar-denominated tokens.



The Financial institution of Korea can be a part of the Agora Undertaking, a cross-border settlement system with central banks from seven nations.

“It’s designed so {that a} nation’s deposit token can’t be used straight out of the country,” Lee mentioned.

Globally, stablecoin utilization continues to rise. The overall market cap now stands at $249.6 billion, up 0.3% within the final 24 hours, per CoinGecko knowledge.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.