6 giờ trước
South Korea nears a stablecoin rulebook as Circle and Tether pursue divergent entry strategies
By Zen, PANews
South Korea's stablecoin market is approaching a key inflection point. Over the past two weeks, increasingly explicit signals from central bank officials, tangible movement in the legislative process, and a fresh round of high-level engagements by Circle and Tether have pushed the conversation beyond broad principles. The debate is now moving into the harder work of institutional design and interest alignment. For global issuers, South Korea is shifting from a market to watch to a market to position for early—a contest over who gets a seat in the next-generation digital financial architecture.
From restriction to regulation: framework design enters a decisive stage
Policy direction is becoming more legible. On April 14, Shin Hyunsoong, nominee for Governor of the Bank of Korea, said won-denominated stablecoins could play a role in the monetary ecosystem and may be both complementary and competitive with a central bank digital currency and deposit tokens. Markets read the remarks as a notable softening in tone.
Earlier guidance from senior Bank of Korea officials had pointed to a gradual rollout: issuance of KRW stablecoins would begin with tightly supervised commercial banks, then potentially broaden to non-bank institutions once operational experience accumulates. The message is not full liberalization, but sequencing—bringing banks into the system first, expanding later.
In parallel, the Bank of Korea is running a deposit-token pilot known as "Project Han River." The program has entered its second phase, expanding participation to nine banks, with plans to extend deposit-token use into more real-world payment settings. Public-sector testing is also underway for subsidies and government spending, signaling that Korea is exploring how to institutionalize bank-issued digital money.
The discussion in Seoul has accordingly shifted from "should stablecoins be allowed" to "how should the stack be structured." Policymakers are weighing the hierarchy and interaction among won-backed stablecoins, bank deposit tokens, and dollar-backed stablecoins, alongside questions of who can issue, how foreign players can enter, and what role local financial groups should play.
Rather than converging on a single track, a three-part framework is taking shape: bank-led deposit tokens as the core, regulated KRW stablecoins as a supplement, and conditionally accessible foreign-currency stablecoins—primarily USD-denominated—at the perimeter.
Circle vs. Tether: two paths into Korea
Circle's positioning is the most explicit and broadly aligns with Korea's emerging regulatory preference for domestic issuance. On April 13 in Seoul, Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire said the company does not plan to issue its own Korean won stablecoin. He suggested a more likely model in which a consortium of Korean banks, fintech firms, and digital-asset companies issues a won stablecoin, while Circle supplies operational technology, platform capabilities, and cross-chain infrastructure.
Allaire also said that if Korea's forthcoming Digital Assets Basic Act creates a compliance pathway for overseas stablecoin issuers, Circle would be willing to apply for a license and establish a local legal entity. The message: Circle is seeking entry as a regulated technology and platform provider, not simply as a token issuer.
Circle's Korea playbook has been described as multi-pronged: sustained regulator engagement, bank partnership talks, exploration of an exchange footprint, and pilots tied to payments. Public information indicates Circle has discussed cross-border remittances, settlement, and RWA technology support with institutions including KB, Shinhan, and Hana, while advancing conversations with platforms such as Dunamu and Bithumb. A central focus is how the Digital Assets Basic Act could define access conditions for overseas issuers—a long-horizon strategy built around licensing, local incorporation, and infrastructure partnerships.
Tether has been quieter publicly in Korea, but active behind the scenes. In early April, Tether representatives visited South Korea and met with groups including KB Financial Group and Coinone to discuss potential cooperation. Disclosures suggest the trip continued outreach that began last year, with an emphasis on expanding circulation and trading of its stablecoin.
Tether's Korea narrative leans toward demand and use cases. In late March, Tether representatives appeared on an AMCHAM Korea stablecoin panel, addressing global adoption, market expansion, and cross-border liquidity. Korean media later cited comments arguing that Korea trails in global payment infrastructure and that stablecoins could improve cross-border e-commerce, tourism spending, and international settlement efficiency.
The contrast is increasingly clear. Circle is trying to embed itself inside the rulebook: accepting that KRW stablecoins are likely to be issued primarily by domestic institutions and pitching its stack—payments rails, compliance interfaces, and infrastructure. Tether appears focused on expanding USDT's transactional footprint through trading, circulation, and payment demand, seeking to cement dollar-stablecoin utility first.
What comes next: a slow, layered opening
South Korea's stablecoin market is likely to evolve along a path of localization, stratification, and gradualism, with broad liberalization still distant. The Democratic Party has urged that the relevant bill advance in a National Assembly committee by the end of this month, but procedural steps, local elections, and other legislative priorities could slow consensus-building.
Key disputes remain unresolved: whether bank-centered issuance should be the default for won-backed stablecoins; whether non-banks and fintechs can participate; how to structure restrictions on major shareholders of virtual-asset exchanges; and whether overseas issuers must establish local entities and meet additional reserve or foreign-exchange compliance requirements.
Over the short to medium term, policymakers are more likely to prioritize domestic KRW stablecoins and bank deposit tokens before finalizing access rules for foreign stablecoins. For Circle and Tether, the near-term prize is not just market share, but who secures the earliest foothold at the interface layer of Korea's future digital-currency system.
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