Bank of Korea Holds Firm on Bank-Led Stablecoin Model as Deposit Token Trials Expand

The Bank of Korea (BOK) is standing by its position that won-denominated stablecoins should be issued through bank-led consortiums, even as pressure builds to finalize South Korea’s digital asset rules.

Central Bank Repeats Call for Bank-Led Issuance

Local outlets Digital Asset and EDaily reported that the BOK laid out its stance in materials submitted Thursday to the National Assembly’s finance committee. The bank asked for safeguards such as priority issuance rights for bank-led consortiums and a statutory policy body made up of relevant government agencies. This is not a new position; the BOK has pushed this line for months, and it remains a major reason South Korea’s digital asset bill keeps getting delayed.

Deposit Token Pilots Set to Expand

Alongside its stablecoin stance, the BOK said it will keep building out deposit token use cases through the rest of the year. Planned areas include government subsidy payments, vouchers, electric vehicle charging systems and broader public transactions. Deposit tokens represent commercial bank deposits in digital form. Governor Hyun Song Shin backed both deposit tokens and central bank digital currencies in his first public address back in April, around the same time the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced a pilot using tokenized deposits for government spending.

Digital Asset Bill Remains Stuck

South Korea’s Digital Asset Basic Act has stalled repeatedly over who gets to issue stablecoins, with the BOK insisting banks hold majority ownership of any issuer. In April, the ruling Democratic Party proposed folding stablecoins and tokenized real world assets into existing financial laws, but the issuer question was left unsettled. The government had targeted the first quarter of 2026 for passage, a deadline that slipped due to the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, local elections and delays reorganizing Assembly committees.