Circle signed non-binding agreements with the Kakao and Toss groups on 22 Jul, widening the number of Korean platforms that could eventually carry its stablecoin.
Circle Signs Kakao, Toss as Seoul Signals Movement on Stablecoin Bill
23 July 2026 - 12:16 CEST
By Oihyun Kim
Kakao, its payments arm KakaoPay and internet-only lender KakaoBank signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Circle, the companies said on 23 Jul. Toss, the payments app run by Viva Republica, signed a separate agreement the same day alongside Toss Bank, a second internet-only lender. Both cover payment and settlement infrastructure, and both name won-denominated digital assets and tokenized financial services as areas to examine.
Toss said it would look at wallets and onchain programmable payments using USDC, Circle's dollar-pegged stablecoin. Toss is pursuing both dollar and won denominated stablecoin infrastructure at the same time. It signed with Optimism and privacy firm Sunnyside Labs on 8 Jul for a three-month proof-of-concept to test whether its OP Stack, the open-source software that underpins Optimism and other Layer-2 networks, can support won-based digital finance infrastructure. Toss Bank said it would examine links between stablecoin rails and existing fiat settlement networks. Kakao said it was preparing a won stablecoin ecosystem across KakaoTalk, KakaoPay and KakaoBank.
None of the agreements commits the parties to a product.
Exploratory until the law lands
The caution reflects the legal position. The Digital Asset Basic Act, which would set the rules for won stablecoin issuance, has been held up for more than a year by a dispute over who may issue. The Bank of Korea, the country's central bank, has pushed for banks to hold 50% plus one share of any issuing consortium. The Financial Services Commission (FSC), Korea's markets regulator, resisted, then floated a staged start under a bank-led structure in its own draft, while maintaining that nothing on the issuer or shareholder structure is settled. Fintech and technology firms want lower barriers for non-banks.
Officials say the legislation itself is now moving. The issuer question remains unresolved. Kim Sung-jin, who heads the FSC's virtual asset division, told a National Assembly conference on 23 Jul that the government was working to legislate as fast as possible and that he was "personally positive about a number of things" regarding an opening of the corporate market this year. The FSC was also reviewing how the act would sit alongside the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act and the Electronic Financial Transactions Act, among others, he said.
Circle's pitch for moving early
Dante Disparte, Circle's chief strategy officer and head of global policy and operations, told reporters in Seoul on 23 Jul that Korea could act as a "fast second" behind the US GENIUS Act, which set a federal licensing framework for stablecoin issuers, and the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation (MiCA).
Trying to wall the market off would fail, he said because people would pick an alternative economy on their phones regardless. "Better to have it localized and build a local industry and local market than to pretend it doesn't exist," Disparte said.
Financial firms buy in
Opening the corporate market would loosen guidance issued in 2017 that has kept financial firms out of crypto equity. Several have moved anyway since May. Hana Bank agreed to acquire 6.6% of Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, which Naver Financial agreed in November to buy outright in a $10.3bn all-stock deal not expected to close before September, for about 1tn won ($670mn), and three Samsung affiliates took 4% for 612.8bn won ($408mn).
Korea Investment & Securities and OKX Ventures each agreed in May to take about 20% of Coinone, a licensed South Korean exchange, subject to regulatory approval. Mirae Asset Consulting, the group's non-financial affiliate that agreed in December to buy a controlling stake in Korbit, said on 21 Jul it would raise that stake to 97% from 92%, lifting the price to 141.4bn won ($94mn), with the purchase completing on 24 Jul, according to regulatory filings.
Cross-border work stays in testing
Kbank, also an internet-only bank, signed its own MOU on 21 Jul with HashKey Group, a Hong Kong-based digital asset firm, and blockchain firm BPMG, with a Korea–Hong Kong remittance proof-of-concept as the first item under review.
Crypto is not recognized as a settlement instrument under Korean foreign exchange law, so the work stops short of live transfers.
