The Bank of Korea has renewed its call for banks to take the lead in issuing won-backed stablecoins while expanding deposit token pilots, as lawmakers continue debating who should be allowed to issue digital currencies.
The Bank of Korea (BOK) has reaffirmed that won-denominated stablecoins should initially be issued through bank-led consortiums.
According to local media reports from Digital Asset and EDaily, the central bank outlined its position in documents submitted Thursday to the National Assembly’s finance committee. The BOK called for safeguards, including giving bank-led consortiums priority to issue stablecoins and creating a statutory policy body involving financial regulators and other government agencies.
The comments reinforce the central bank’s long-standing view that banks should play the leading role in issuing won-backed stablecoins. The issue has divided regulators, lawmakers and the crypto industry, slowing progress on South Korea’s Digital Asset Basic Act.
The BOK also said it will expand pilot programs for deposit tokens in the second half of the year. Planned use cases include government subsidy payments, digital vouchers, electric vehicle charging and other everyday transactions. Deposit tokens are digital versions of commercial bank deposits.
In April, BOK Governor Hyun Song Shin voiced support for deposit tokens and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), while the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced plans to pilot tokenized deposits for government spending.
Stablecoin rules remain a key hurdle
The BOK’s latest comments highlight one of the biggest sticking points in South Korea’s Digital Asset Basic Act: who should be allowed to issue stablecoins.
The central bank has consistently argued that banks should hold majority ownership of stablecoin issuers, while other policymakers and industry groups have pushed for broader participation by non-bank companies.
The debate comes as lawmakers work on rules covering stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) and other digital assets. In April, the ruling Democratic Party proposed bringing stablecoins and RWAs under existing financial laws, but key questions—including whether stablecoin issuers must be bank-led—remain unresolved.
The government had originally aimed to complete the Digital Asset Basic Act by the first quarter of 2026. However, the timeline has slipped following geopolitical tensions, local elections and delays in reorganizing the National Assembly’s committee structure.
Featured image from: cointelegraph.com