Global USDC issuer Circle said it would establish an official local presence in Korea and enter the market if Korea’s regulatory environment accommodates foreign issuers. Circle noted it is evaluating what structure would be most appropriate for its Korea operations. CEO Jeremien Allaire said that if the foreign stablecoin issuance-related bill (Digital Asset Basic Act) enables participation by global firms, Circle would certainly establish a formal Korean subsidiary and obtain the appropriate licenses to operate.
He described Korea as a top-10 global market with substantial participation in the digital asset ecosystem and a technology leader, and said the market is dynamic with USDC technology already used by many platforms. Circle stressed that its Korea entry aims to do more than just expand USDC distribution, highlighting that the ARC blockchain network to be commercially launched this year could be a highly attractive technology for Korea’s Web3 ecosystem. Circle has been in discussions with Korean companies for cross-border payment and funds transfer efficiency, and emphasized expanding infrastructure and payment layers as a key opportunity.
Circle announced partnerships with domestic exchanges such as Dunamu (Upbit) and Bithumb to broaden USDC adoption within the domestic market and to lay groundwork for integrating Circle’s infrastructure technologies. Allaire spoke with major domestic financial groups, including KB Financial Group, Shinhan Financial Group, and Hana Financial Group, to discuss collaboration in using stablecoins for payments and in asset-backed tokenization (RWA). Despite these plans, Circle indicated it would not directly issue won-backed stablecoins, noting that a locally-led issuance model would be more appropriate and that it would focus on providing technology support to Korean firms seeking to build their own won-stablecoins.
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