South Korea’s central bank has restated its position that won-denominated stablecoin issuance should be restricted to commercial banks, in a report submitted to the National Assembly’s Strategy and Finance Committee as lawmakers continue debating a delayed regulatory framework. The Bank of Korea described won-pegged tokens as “currency-like substitutes” whose rollout must account for monetary policy, foreign-exchange stability and financial risk, warning that non-bank issuance could conflict with Korea’s separation of banking and commerce and could be used to sidestep foreign-exchange reporting rules.
The central bank proposed that banks — already subject to capital, governance and compliance standards — issue first, with any expansion to other entities only after formal risk assessments, alongside a bank-centred consortium model and a new statutory interagency body to coordinate approvals and oversight. It cited the United States’ GENIUS Act, which places cross-agency supervision with the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, as a reference model, while acknowledging that programmable stablecoins could support payments innovation.
The position has drawn pushback: Kaia DLT Foundation chair Sangmin Seo said the bank-led argument lacks a “logical foundation” and that clearer rules for all issuers would manage risk more effectively. Legislation has already slipped repeatedly — regulators were split in November 2025 over whether banks must hold a majority stake in any issuing entity, pushing back a bill once expected in October 2025; by December, lawmakers were targeting a January 2026 resolution, but no final timeline has been set as of late September 2026.
The delay matters beyond Korea’s crypto industry: a bank-only won stablecoin, if it eventually passes, would run through the same institutions that already handle international transfers, rather than through new non-bank payment entrants.
References
CoinMarketCap – Bank of Korea Pushes Bank-Only Won Stablecoin Model Amid Law Delays
