Korea's payment infrastructure is moving ahead of stalled legislation on won-pegged stablecoins, laying the groundwork for an independent reserve audit regime of the kind built into the US GENIUS Act and the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework.
Bank of Korea-Backed Clearing Body Files Won Stablecoin Reserve Patent
22 June 2026 - 05:54 CEST
By Oihyun Kim
The Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute (KFTC), a bank-owned non-profit operating South Korea's interbank settlement network under Bank of Korea oversight, filed a patent for technology that verifies whether stablecoin issuers hold reserves matching tokens in circulation, Seoul Economic Daily reported on 19 Jun. The technology cross-checks an issuer's reported reserves against actual holdings to confirm 1:1 backing.
KFTC separately registered a related patent on 18 May, covering a hybrid atomic swap system that links different blockchains with conventional financial networks, ensuring asset transfers across these systems settle without rollback risk.
"Future digital asset settlement will require a third-party trusted institution to verify transactions," a KFTC official told Seoul Economic Daily. The agency plans to approach bank consortia in the second half of 2026 once the legal framework takes clearer shape.
Third-party verifier role
Reserve verification has emerged as a central question in Korea's stablecoin debate. Stablecoin issuer Tether's multi-year controversy over the composition of reserves backing its dollar-pegged USDT, the world's largest stablecoin, left a lasting template for what regulators want to avoid.
Draft Korean bills under the Digital Asset Basic Act, Seoul's pending crypto framework, would require issuers to hold reserves of at least 100% of outstanding supply in cash, government bonds, and other liquid assets, kept separate from corporate funds and subject to priority redemption rights. Some drafts also mandate disclosure of reserve management and yield.
Wall Street has moved to capture the reserve-management opportunity. Asset managers Fidelity and State Street rolled out dedicated money-market funds in recent months for issuers complying with the GENIUS Act, Washington's stablecoin law. BlackRock has managed Circle's USDC reserves since before the law took effect.
Bank consortia move first
Korean lenders are not waiting for legislation. At least four rival consortia are forming, pairing banks with fintechs, crypto exchanges and internet conglomerates. The largest move so far came in May when Hana Bank, a subsidiary of Hana Financial Group, acquired a 6.55% stake in Upbit operator Dunamu for 1.003tn won ($670mn), positioning itself alongside Naver Financial in a single bloc. KB Financial Group, Shinhan Financial Group and internet group Kakao are assembling their own alliances (see chart).
The bill itself has been delayed past June local elections after the Financial Services Commission and Bank of Korea failed to agree on whether issuance should be limited to bank-controlled consortia.
Central bank pushes back
The central bank's stance complicates the picture. Bank of Korea Governor Hyun Song Shin told the Bank of Korea International Conference on 1 Jun that euro-denominated stablecoins account for less than 0.3% of the global stablecoin market by capitalization, an indirect signal he questions the case for a won version. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, at the same conference, likened stablecoins to "casino chips" used to speed digital asset trading.
Shin, an internationally prominent economist who previously led monetary and economic research at the Bank for International Settlements, will present a paper on next-generation payments at the European Central Bank's Sintra forum on 1 Jul, showcasing Project Hangang, the Bank of Korea's CBDC pilot, which incorporates commercial-bank deposit tokens. The central bank has not opposed stablecoins outright but favours a phased approach centred on bank-issued deposit tokens, which keep digital settlement within the regulated banking perimeter rather than in privately issued tokens.
Verification stays with banks
Either way, KFTC's filing keeps the verification function inside the bank-controlled clearing system, consistent with the central bank's preference for digital settlement to stay within the regulated banking perimeter. The patent remains an application rather than a granted right, and commercial deployment is contingent on the legislative outcome.
