The Bank of Korea reiterates its support for bank-led issuance of won stablecoins and advances the pilot application of deposit tokens.

Mars Finance News, July 9 – The Bank of Korea (BOK) submitted its latest opinion to the National Assembly's Finance Committee, reiterating that Korean won stablecoins should be issued primarily by bank consortia, and recommending the establishment of a statutory policy coordination mechanism involving relevant regulatory agencies to strengthen the stablecoin issuance and regulatory framework. The BOK stated that this stance aims to safeguard financial stability, once again highlighting its divergence with some political and industry bodies on the issue of stablecoin issuing entities.

At the same time, the BOK announced that it will continue to advance the deposit token pilot program in the second half of this year, planning to apply it to government subsidy distribution, vouchers, charging infrastructure payments, and more real commercial scenarios. Deposit tokens are a tokenized form of commercial bank deposits, regarded as a key direction for Korea's tokenized finance push.

Due to prolonged disputes over core issues such as stablecoin issuance eligibility, the legislative process for Korea's Digital Asset Basic Act continues to slow. The BOK has previously advocated that banks should maintain a controlling stake in stablecoin issuers, while how stablecoins, RWA, and other digital assets should be incorporated into the existing financial regulatory system remains a major point of contention in Korea's digital asset legislation.