The Bank of Korea is holding its ground in a growing policy fight over how the country should regulate won-pegged stablecoins, insisting that only licensed banks should be permitted to issue the digital tokens as lawmakers finalize the nation's digital asset legislation.
Central Bank Doubles Down on Banks
South Korea's central bank has shown no willingness to soften its view that the future of the country's stablecoin market belongs to its regulated banking sector. The BOK argues that limiting issuance to licensed banks is the surest way to protect financial stability while keeping a rapidly evolving industry under tight supervision.
The stance puts the institution squarely at the heart of a national debate over digital currencies tied to the won. Rather than opening the door to a broad range of new issuers, the central bank favors channeling activity through established, well-monitored institutions.
The Bank of Korea maintains that a bank-led framework offers greater stability and oversight for the emerging stablecoin market.
Deposit Token Trials Advance
To back up its cautious philosophy, the BOK is pressing ahead with pilot programs for deposit tokens — a bank-issued instrument that represents traditional deposits in digital form. The trials reflect the central bank's preference for innovation that operates inside the existing regulated system rather than outside it.
Deposit tokens differ from privately issued stablecoins in one crucial way: they are linked directly to conventional bank deposits, giving supervisors a familiar structure to track. By running these tests, the BOK signals that it wants to steer digital-asset enthusiasm toward products it can monitor more easily.
- Won-pegged stablecoins would be restricted to regulated bank issuers under the BOK's proposal.
- Deposit token pilots are already underway as a bank-backed alternative.
- The issuance debate is playing out as South Korea's digital asset bill is being finalized.
An Unsettled Question for Legislators
The central question — who should be allowed to issue stablecoins — remains open. While the BOK pushes for a tightly controlled, bank-centered model, other participants in the policy discussion have urged broader access that would let non-bank firms enter the market.
That friction is expected to shape the eventual form of South Korea's stablecoin rules. How lawmakers balance the central bank's demand for control against calls for wider competition will help determine whether the country's digital-asset framework leans conservative or embraces a more open field of