The Bank of Korea has chosen to stick to its original stance of keeping won-demonated stablecoin issuance limited to the country’s licensed banks, as per multiple media reports drawing on from an official press release from the South Korean institution on Monday.
The update reaffirms what the Bank of Korea has been advocating for, saying that stablecoin issuance in the wrong hands to raise the risk of money laundering, something which cryptocurrency has courted controversy for before.
Stablecoins are a growing market within digital assets, and multiple banks and fintechs have already rolled out their own stablecoin to keep pace with the market. In many cases, the token’s 1:1 relationship with fiat currencies offers some stability for investors who want to settle trades quickly or make investments in cryptos safer than typical blue-chip cryptocurrencies, which are known to be volatile. According to McKinsey and Co, the global stablecoin market was valued at $300 billion around late 2025 and early 2026.
The official recommendation to only let licensed banks issue stablecoins was suggested to regulators after the Digital Asset Basic Act, which was finalized in early 2026, according to Coinfomania. The Digital Asset Basic Act offers a set of safeguards for the digital asset industry in South Korea, which is experiencing rapid growth with the emergence of cryptocurrency exchanges such as Bithumb, which also underwent a major hack.