The South Korean stablecoin market enters a critical development period

After the new government in South Korea came to power, the local currency-linked stablecoin market experienced rapid development. Various forces are making moves, striving to seize opportunities in this emerging market.

Currently, eight major commercial banks are preparing to establish a joint venture to issue Korean won stablecoins. The alliance includes large domestic banks such as Kookmin Bank and Shinhan Bank, as well as the Korean branches of foreign banks like Citibank and Standard Chartered. The project team is considering two issuance schemes: a trust model and a deposit token model, with the joint venture potentially being established by the end of this year or early next year.

Among traditional tech giants, Kakao Pay is the most active. The company has initiated its business layout for the Korean won stablecoin and has submitted several related trademark applications to the Korean Intellectual Property Office. Kakao Pay will leverage its advantages in the payment field and collaborate with its parent company's ecosystem to provide a wide range of application scenarios for the stablecoin.

In the blockchain sector, the Kaia public chain formed by the merger of Klaytn and Finschia has announced that it will fully promote the issuance of the Korean won stablecoin. Kaia plans to collaborate with super apps such as Kakao Pay and LINE NEXT to achieve integrated circulation of "on-chain + social + payment."

The established payment service provider Danal has also restarted its digital currency business, submitting a patent application for POS terminals that support virtual asset payments. The blockchain startup Nexus has pre-issued a Korean won stablecoin named KRWx on the BNB Chain and applied for the relevant trademark.

In addition, IT solution providers such as Samsung SDS and LG CNS, with their mature enterprise-level blockchain platforms, are also seen as potential infrastructure suppliers.

With the advancement of the "Basic Law on Digital Assets", the stablecoin market in South Korea is expected to experience rapid growth. Various participants are actively preparing to secure a favorable position in this emerging market.