South Korean banking giants seal deals ahead of stablecoin regulation

South Korea’s biggest financial players are scrambling to formulate stablecoin issuance plans as the government prepares to rush through a legalisation bill.

The ruling Democratic Party wants to let domestic companies issue won-denominated coins, overturning a ban that has stood in place since 2019.

Hana Financial Group launched a stablecoin alliance last week, along with its competitors BNK Financial Group, iM Financial Group, Standard Chartered Bank Korea, OK Savings Bank, South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported on January 16. Another financial group, JB, joined on January 21, South Korean media outlet IB Tomato reported.

The alliance has agreed to create a special-purpose company that will issue a won-pegged coin once lawmakers lift the ban.

Sources close to the deal say the financial groups have also spoken to travel firms and insurance providers about cooperation, Chosun reported.

The central bank continues to drag its feet on the issue, insisting big tech players should be barred from issuing won-pegged coins, despite their eagerness to get involved.

But the government says it wants legislation finalised by the end of next month.

Jostling for dominance

As the impasse between the government and the central bank continues, regulators have suggested a compromise that would allow only consortia comprising major banks to issue stablecoins.

This has led South Korean financial groups to form alliances to prearrange cooperation in anticipation of such a compromise.

The chat app operator Kakao launched a stablecoin task force in August 2025, in conjunction with its banking and e-pay subsidiaries. In November, Kakao firms reportedly began work on a Kakao-branded won-pegged stablecoin.

Two commercial banking groups reportedly met with the Kakao task force before opting to throw their lot in with the Hana-led group.

“I understand that JB Financial Group and BNK Financial Group have been holding cooperation talks with Kakao,” an unnamed source close to the alliance told South Korean newspaper Seoul Kyungjae.

“Initially, there was talk in the market that the Kakao group held an advantage.”

JB and BNK are both mid-sized banking and securities firms with a combined market capitalisation of around $6.4 billion.

The sources said they expected the Hana-led alliance to initially “pursue a project to convert local currencies into stablecoins.”

Several South Korean regions have launched won-based local currency projects in recent years, as part of a bid to boost growth in the country’s provinces.

But the ban on token issuance means most of these currencies have been issued as digital vouchers rather than cryptocurrency-like tokens.

Tim Alper is a News Correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email at tdalper@dlnews.com.