# Korea's Won-Stablecoin Endgame: What the Digital Asset Basic Act Changes

*ium Research — David, CEO — June 16, 2026*
*Canonical: https://iumlabs.io/blog/korea-won-stablecoin-digital-asset-basic-act-2026*

## Key Takeaways

- Korea is replacing enforcement-by-circular with the Digital Asset Basic Act, introduced to the National Assembly on June 10, 2025.
- The contested center is a regulated won stablecoin, and specifically who may issue it: banks, exchanges, or fintechs.
- Whoever issues the KRW rail controls the on and off ramp, the most expensive part of any Korean go-to-market.
- For projects, a compliant won stablecoin changes how Korean users fund wallets and move into tokens.

For most of the last decade, Korea governed crypto through guidance letters, real-name banking mandates, and selective enforcement rather than a statute. That era is ending. The Digital Asset Basic Act (DABA) moves the country from discretion to a written rulebook, and the most consequential line in it is not about exchanges or disclosure. It is about a won-denominated stablecoin, and which institutions may mint it. For any project planning a Korea launch, this is the rail your users will fund through.

## 1. From circulars to a framework

Korea is one of Asia's largest retail crypto markets, and it has run without a comprehensive law to match. According to the Bank of Korea, Korean individuals held roughly KRW 104 trillion in digital assets at the end of 2024, near five percent of GDP, a market supervised largely by circular rather than primary law.

> **KRW 104 trillion** — Korean individuals held roughly KRW 104 trillion (about USD 80 billion) in digital assets at end-2024, near 5% of GDP (Source: Bank of Korea, via U.S. International Trade Administration)

The Democratic Party introduced DABA to the National Assembly in June 2025 ([Bill No. 2210736](https://likms.assembly.go.kr/bill/billDetail.do?billId=PRC_T2R5S0Q6P0P5X0Y9W1W1V3V0U7C4C1), Rep. Min Byoung-dug and 36 co-sponsors, filed June 11), under President Lee Jae-myung, who campaigned on legalizing won-based stablecoins; the FSC's Virtual Asset Committee had already [named stablecoin rules the top priority](https://www.fsc.go.kr/no010101/83855) of phase-two legislation. It defines digital asset types, sets licensing and conduct standards for service providers, and writes rules for issuance, circulation, and disclosure. In parallel, the Bank of Korea suspended its retail central bank digital currency pilot, citing overlap with stablecoins. The won stablecoin, not a central-bank digital won, is the instrument Korea is betting on.

The shift matters because guidance and statute create very different planning environments. A circular can be reissued or reinterpreted, which is why operators have historically treated Korea as a gray zone to be navigated rather than a market to be built on. A primary law with defined issuer classes, capital floors, and reserve rules turns that gray zone into a set of fixed lanes. Once the lanes exist, the question for a foreign project is no longer whether Korea will allow a funded-account flow, but which licensed counterparty sits at the front of it. That is a planning problem we can solve in advance, rather than a risk we have to price as permanent uncertainty.

*[Figure: Chosun, "Financial Sector Preempts Stablecoin Market Amid Legislation"]*

## 2. Why the won stablecoin is the battleground

A stablecoin is the bridge between bank money and tokens. In Korea today, moving cash into crypto runs through exchange accounts tied to a handful of banks, with friction at every step. A regulated KRW stablecoin collapses that into one on-chain instrument: deposit won, hold a token worth one won, move it anywhere a wallet is accepted. Whoever issues that token sits at the chokepoint where fiat becomes crypto.

That is why the fight over DABA is about who owns the ramp, not trading. The draft places stablecoins close to electronic money, with issuers required to hold a minimum of 5 billion won (about USD 3.5 million) in capital and to back tokens with 100 percent reserves in safe assets such as bank deposits. Those terms decide who can compete.

> **5B won (~$3.5M)** — A won stablecoin issuer would need about 5B won minimum capital plus 100% safe-asset reserve backing under the draft (Source: Cryptonews; Yahoo Finance)

The capital floor and the reserve rule are not the same lever, and operators should read them separately. The 5 billion won minimum is a barrier to entry that thins the field to serious, well-capitalized issuers. The 100 percent safe-asset backing is a behavior constraint that limits how an issuer can earn on the float, which in turn shapes whether issuance is a profit center or a strategic chokepoint a larger institution holds for distribution reasons. A bank with a balance sheet treats both as routine. A fintech treats the capital floor as affordable and the reserve rule as a margin question. That difference is exactly why the two camps want the issuer question decided in their favor, and why the law has stalled on it.

> Embedded video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FisGILIohSU

## 3. Who issues it

This is where the framework has stalled. [The Bank of Korea argues](https://www.bok.or.kr/portal/bbs/B0000232/view.do?menuNo=200706&nttId=10094188) that only banks holding majority (51 percent) ownership of an issuer should be permitted to mint won stablecoins, on the logic that banks already carry strict solvency and anti-money-laundering obligations. The Financial Services Commission pushed back, warning that a hard 51 percent rule would block fintechs with the depth to build scalable infrastructure, and pointing to the EU's MiCA regime and Japan's fintech-led yen projects as precedents for non-bank issuance. The ruling party sided against the central bank.

> **"A majority of participating experts voiced concerns about the BOK's proposal, with many questioning whether such a framework could deliver innovation or generate strong network effects. It is also hard to find global legislative precedents in which institutions from a specific sector are required to hold a 51%."**
>
> , Ahn Do-geol, Democratic Party lawmaker, via CoinDesk

The contest is already visible. KB Kookmin, Korea's largest bank, filed stablecoin trademarks ahead of a banking consortium, with Shinhan, Woori, NH Nonghyup and others alongside it. On the non-bank side, Naver Financial is building a Web3 payment network on its fintech base, while KakaoBank, KakaoPay, and Viva Republica (Toss) realign. Foreign issuers are not locked out, but under the FSC draft a token like Circle's USDC would need a licensed local branch or subsidiary to be used legally in Korea.

*[Figure: ChainCatcher, "The competition for the Korean won stablecoin has officially begun: bank alliances, tech giants, and Web3 companies"]*

The three camps are not interchangeable distribution partners. Each comes with a different default audience, a different speed, and a different compliance posture, and the camp that wins issuance effectively decides where Korean retail attention has to be courted. The table below maps how a project should read each outcome.

| Camp | Lead players | Edge | Constraint under DABA |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Bank consortium | KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, NH | Trust, balance sheet, AML rails | Slower product velocity |
| Fintech and big tech | Naver Financial, KakaoBank, Toss | Distribution, UX, user base | 51% rule could exclude them |
| Foreign issuers | Circle (USDC) | Global liquidity | Must establish local entity |

The asymmetry in this table is the strategic point. The bank consortium owns trust and rails but moves slowly, so a project that depends on it should plan a longer integration runway and budget for heavier compliance gates. The fintech camp owns distribution and the consumer surface where Korean attention already lives, which is why its outcome is the one most aligned with a [CEX user-acquisition funnel](/blog/korea-cex-user-acquisition-funnel-kol-naver-paid-ads) that already runs through Naver, Kakao, and Toss. The foreign-issuer row is a reminder that global liquidity does not buy a Korean ramp on its own; the local entity does.

> Embedded video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcdctTzallQ

## 4. What This Means for Operators

For users entering tokens, the on and off ramp is usually the most expensive part of the funnel. A licensed won stablecoin changes that math: flows that today route through exchange-bank rails, with KYC re-friction at each hop, can instead settle in a regulated KRW token on-chain, lowering the cost of acquiring a funded user and shortening the path to first transaction.

It also changes who your distribution partners are. If the bank consortium wins issuance, integration runs through incumbent financial groups and their compliance gates. If fintechs win, the ramp comes bundled with Naver, Kakao, and Toss distribution, where Korean retail attention already lives. Either way, issuers will gate access on compliance, so the posture has to be ready before the rail goes live.

There is a sequencing implication most teams miss. The won stablecoin does not arrive in isolation; it lands alongside the broader institutional opening, where Korea is also unwinding its [corporate crypto ban](/blog/korea-corporate-crypto-ban-lifted-institutional-playbook-2026) and reshaping who holds the asset. A project that treats the funding rail, the institutional buyer, and the listing surface as one connected system will move faster than one chasing each in isolation. The work to do now is unglamorous: decide which issuer camp your funnel depends on, and have the integration and compliance posture staged so that the day issuance opens, you are not starting from zero.

## 5. What Breaks It

Timeline is the first risk. The bill has been repeatedly delayed over the issuer question, and full implementation is unlikely before subordinate regulations and enforcement decrees are written, a process expected to run well into 2026 and beyond. Building a Korea plan around a token with no legal issuer yet is a real exposure. The discipline here is to build for the rules that exist while staging for the ones that are coming, so that a slip in the calendar costs you waiting time, not sunk integration spend against a rail that never ships in the form you assumed.

The second risk is the Bank of Korea's core worry: capital flight. The central bank has warned that won stablecoins, especially if bridged to dollar-pegged tokens, could move money across borders fast enough to weaken capital controls and complicate monetary policy. If that concern dominates the final text, the rail could arrive narrower and slower than expected, with tighter limits on cross-border movement and a heavier bank-led posture than the fintech camp wants. The counter-case is not that the won stablecoin fails to arrive; it is that it arrives in a more conservative shape, where the 51 percent bank-ownership logic prevails and the distribution-rich fintech outcome is deferred. An operator who has only planned for the fintech-bundled ramp would find their entire funding-channel thesis invalidated by a single clause in the enforcement decree.

*[Figure: Ledger Insights, "Korean central bank won't oppose won stablecoin, gets role in supervision"]*

> **"It is desirable to first allow banks, which are under a high level of regulations, to issue won-based stablecoins, and gradually expand to the non-bank sector with the experience."**
>
> , Ryoo Sang-dai, Senior Deputy Governor, Bank of Korea, via Reuters

## 6. How We Run It

We treat the won stablecoin as a launch dependency, not a headline. For a project entering Korea, we map the funding path your users will take, identify which issuer camp your distribution depends on, and build the compliance posture issuers and exchanges demand before granting access. The projects that move first will have integrations ready the day issuance opens.

Our [go-to-market practice](/services/gtm) sequences the launch around the regulatory calendar rather than against it, and our [compliance practice](/services/compliance) prepares the licensing and AML posture that turns a gray-market funnel into a defensible one. If you are planning a Korean launch into this shift, [talk to us](/contact).

## Sources

- [CoinDesk, South Korea's long-awaited crypto law stalls over who can issue stablecoins](https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/12/30/south-korea-s-long-awaited-crypto-law-stalls-over-who-can-issue-stablecoins)
- [Reuters, Bank of Korea deputy chief says desirable to introduce stablecoins gradually](https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/bank-korea-deputy-chief-says-desirable-introduce-stablecoins-gradually-2025-06-24/)
- [U.S. International Trade Administration, South Korea Digital Assets Market](https://www.trade.gov/market-intelligence/south-korea-digital-assets-market)
- [Cryptonews, South Korea's New Crypto Bill Sets $3.5M Minimum for Stablecoin Issuers](https://cryptonews.com/news/south-koreas-new-crypto-bill-sets-3-5m-minimum-for-stablecoin-issuers-can-it-pass/)
- [The Block, South Korea's largest bank files stablecoin trademarks for upcoming banking consortium](https://www.theblock.co/post/359526/south-korea-largest-bank-applies-stablecoin-trademarks)
- [Korea Times, Financial groups race to partner with big tech for stablecoin edge](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/business/banking-finance/20251110/financial-groups-race-to-partner-with-big-tech-for-stablecoin-edge)
- [ChainCatcher, "The competition for the Korean won stablecoin has officially begun"](https://www.chaincatcher.com/en/article/2188358)
- [Chosun, "Financial Sector Preempts Stablecoin Market Amid Legislation"](https://www.chosun.com/english/industry-en/2026/02/04/DFDOXRW6R5CEDBGE6BN4CDXQXU/)
- [Ledger Insights, "Korean central bank won't oppose won stablecoin, gets role in supervision"](https://www.ledgerinsights.com/korean-central-bank-wont-oppose-won-stablecoin-gets-role-in-supervision/)
- [국회 의안정보시스템, 디지털자산기본법안 (의안번호 2210736)](https://likms.assembly.go.kr/bill/billDetail.do?billId=PRC_T2R5S0Q6P0P5X0Y9W1W1V3V0U7C4C1)
- [한국은행, 원화 스테이블코인의 주요 이슈와 대응방안 (2025.10)](https://www.bok.or.kr/portal/bbs/B0000232/view.do?menuNo=200706&nttId=10094188)
- [금융위원회, 제2차 가상자산위원회 보도자료 (2025.1)](https://www.fsc.go.kr/no010101/83855)

*[Figure: Source: CoinDesk, "South Korea's long-awaited crypto law stalls over who can issue stablecoins"]*

*This report reflects ium Labs' operating view and is intended for general information, not legal advice.*