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FollowingCryptocurrency regulatory developments
The Bank of Korea insists on requiring banks to dominate the issuance of Korean won stablecoins and takes a tough stance. On July 9, the Bank of Korea (BOK) submitted a submission to the Congressional Finance Committee, reiterating its position that preferential issuance rights should be granted to a bank-led consortium and a statutory regulatory body should be established by relevant government agencies.
This position of the Bank of Korea has remained unchanged for several months and has become one of the main obstacles to the adoption of the Basic Law on Digital Assets. The central bank\'s insistence that any stablecoin issuer operating in South Korea must have a majority stake in a bank has met resistance from parts of the financial industry and led to divisions among policymakers.
Current situation of legislative confrontation
The South Korean government told President Lee Jae-myung in January that it planned to pass the Basic Law on Digital Assets before the first quarter of 2026. This goal was not achieved. Reasons for the delay include a shift in legislative attention due to geopolitical tensions that erupted at the end of February, and a further delay in the process of local elections and the reorganization of congressional committees.
The ruling Common Democratic Party proposed in April to include stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets in the existing financial legal framework, but the proposal did not resolve the core controversy over issuance structure. Who will issue Korean won stablecoins remains a key outstanding issue hindering the passage of the bill.
Parallel to the central bank\'s stance is discussions about tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs) and how they should integrate into South Korea\'s broader financial rules system. The issue of issuers of stablecoins has occupied a large amount of legislative resources, causing these related issues to also stall.
Token deposit project continues to advance
Although the stablecoin controversy continues to simmer in Congress, the Bank of Korea said it will continue to build token deposit infrastructure for the rest of 2026. Planned application scenarios include government subsidy issuance, vouchers, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and general public transactions. Token deposits are digital tokens backed by commercial bank deposits that differ from stablecoins in legal and operational structure.
In his first public speech since taking office in April, Bank of Korea Governor Shin-sung expressed support for token deposits and the central bank\'s digital currency (CBDC). In the same month, South Korea\'s Ministry of Economy and Finance announced the launch of another token deposit pilot project, focusing on using tokenized deposits for government operating expenses. These two pilot projects represent ongoing areas of policy advancement, while broader stablecoin legislation remains pending.
