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KakaoBank Explores Won-Pegged Stablecoin Issuance and Custody Services

Following the shelving of the Bank of Korea’s CBDC pilot, the digital bank is mobilizing a Kakao Group task force to position itself under South Korea’s upcoming digital asset framework.

Overview

  • KakaoBank confirmed it is actively assessing both issuance and custody models for a Korean won–pegged stablecoin through its new Stablecoin Task Force.
  • The group-wide task force brings together leadership from KakaoBank, KakaoPay and Kakao Group to align banking, payments and platform capabilities.
  • Executives point to three years of real-name account issuance and robust KYC/AML monitoring as the compliance foundation for private stablecoin operations.
  • The bank’s technical expertise draws on its role in both phases of the Bank of Korea’s CBDC pilot, where it built and operated wallets, handled exchanges and remittances.
  • Regulators halted the central bank’s CBDC pilot in June and lawmakers are advancing the Digital Asset Basic Act to set capital, reserve and IT requirements for private stablecoin issuers.