Regulation Shapes Korea’s Stablecoin Landscape as Banks Lead Push

Regulators weigh token designations and cross-agency oversight as banks push for a dominant role in Korea’s stablecoin regulation.

Rich by Coin

2025-12-20

Global stablecoins led by Circle’s USDC and Tether’s USDT have already established themselves rapidly as core payments and remittance infrastructure. In particular, the card industry stresses that leveraging existing payment infrastructure can enable rapid market entry. Nine major card issuers and the Korea Association of Credit Finance formed a ‘Stablecoin Joint Response Task Force’ in July to coordinate a full-scale response. An official from the Korea Association of Credit Finance said that nationwide merchant networks and settlement know-how can be leveraged as-is, minimizing upfront investment while enabling rapid market adoption.

He added that they plan to actively support establishing the institutional framework, including amending the Specialized Financial Industry Act, so that the card sector can participate in all stages of issuance, distribution, and settlement in line with regulators and the legislature’s direction. The industry’s common view is that the Bank of Korea seeks a 51% stake or de facto leadership in the consortium, raising barriers to entry for private firms. The key cause of delays in domestic stablecoin legalization cited by the industry is the Bank of Korea’s insistence on a ‘bank-centered consortium’ stance. Nevertheless, there are views inside and outside the industry that completely excluding the Bank of Korea from the process is difficult.

Given the potential impact of stablecoins on monetary policy and financial stability, coordination with the central bank is deemed inevitable. Under the government plan, if the number of users or issuance size could influence monetary policy, such tokens could be designated as ‘Important Digital Payment Tokens,’ enabling joint inspections with the Financial Supervisory Service or the Bank of Korea. However, this government proposal is not final yet. Rep. Min Byung-deok said that the term ‘Important Digital Payment Token’ specified in the government proposal is itself problematic, and that the Bank of Korea should only be able to express views and not be given final authority to block.