Circle plans to launch a Korean won stablecoin?

Circle has reached a cooperation with Kakao and Toss, but has no intention of issuing Korean won stablecoins.

On July 23, handshake emoticons appeared one after another on Circle (@circle)'s X platform account. One tweet announced that Circle had signed a memorandum of understanding with Kakao Group, Kakao Pay and Kakao Bank. Another tweet confirmed that Circle reached a second agreement with Toss (@toss__official) and Toss Bank at a stablecoin roundtable meeting held a day earlier at Toss headquarters. The two collaborations involve South Korea's two major consumer finance technology giants, but raise a common question: Is the USDC issuer about to launch a Korean won stablecoin? The answer is no. Circle has publicly and explicitly ruled out this possibility on many occasions. These agreements actually depict a different role-Circle will serve as the underlying infrastructure to serve any Korean won pegged tokens that South Korean banks and fintech companies may launch in the future.

What exactly did Kakao and Circle sign?

The Kakao Agreement connects Kakao, Kakao Pay and KakaoBank with Circle Internet Group. Under the memorandum of understanding, the parties will explore the possibility of combining Circle's blockchain and global payment infrastructure with Kakao's consumer platforms and financial services. Circle said the work will assess opportunities for the USDC and Circle Global Payment Track in payment, settlement and digital asset connectivity. Areas of review include: stablecoin payments and infrastructure for potential won backed digital assets, cross-border remittances and overseas payments, merchant settlements, connections between existing banking systems and blockchain networks, and tokenized financial services. None of the above contents are formed products and there is no confirmed release model or commercial release schedule. Both parties described the cooperation as a feasibility study that requires technical and regulatory reviews to be completed before any products can be officially launched. Shin Won-keun, CEO of Kakao Pay and head of the group's stablecoin working group, said in the announcement that the goal is to work with Circle to "prepare South Korea's digital asset ecosystem in advance."

The Toss agreement follows a similar path: USDC-based services, digital wallets, programmable payments and cross-border settlements. With KakaoTalk's instant messaging coverage and Toss super app, Circle has now entered two major consumer finance technology ecosystems in South Korea.

Why didn't Circle spontaneously issue Korean won stablecoins?

Because it has reiterated this point time and again. In April this year, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire told reporters in Seoul: "I don't think Circle will issue Korean won stablecoins." Instead, he pointed out that a consortium of South Korean banks, fintech companies and digital asset companies might be a more suitable issuer. Circle is positioned as the underlying support: the technology to make stablecoins work and the bridge between any future Korean won token and USDC's global liquidity, which currently has approximately $73 billion in circulation. Circle's layout in South Korea this year has been the same. In early 2026, Circle reached an agreement with Upbit operators Dunamu and Bithumb, two exchanges that typically handle more than 95% of South Korea's daily cryptocurrency transactions. Working with platforms that already have a grasp of Korean users and capital flows makes USDC a link connecting all parties.

What is the current status of South Korea's stablecoin regulation?

At present, the issuance of domestic Korean won stablecoins is still restricted by current rules, and the framework aimed at changing this situation is also deadlocked. The Basic Law on Digital Assets stalled at the end of 2025 over a key issue: Who has the right to issue it. The Bank of Korea wants issuers to be controlled by banks and promotes requiring banks to hold 51% of the shares; while the Financial Services Commission believes a rigid threshold will exclude fintech companies and curb competition. The government has made the bill a priority for the second half of 2026, with an early draft requiring foreign issuers such as Circle to establish licensed local institutions in South Korea. The pilot project did not wait for the implementation of the law. KB Financial Group completed trials covering stablecoin issuance, offline merchant payments and remittances on the Kaia blockchain in May;Kbank partnered with Ripple to conduct a blockchain-based remittance test in April. According to reports, KakaoBank had planned to launch a stablecoin backed by the won as early as the end of 2025, months before it signed an agreement with Circle. The Kakao and Toss agreement gave Circle a seat before the rules were written. If South Korea's National Assembly can resolve the ownership dispute this year, the race for South Korean won stablecoins will really start, and every potential issuer will need to have infrastructure on the first day. Whether the winner will run the infrastructure through Circle or build it himself is something that cannot be decided by a memorandum of understanding.