SEOUL, Sept. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s central bank, in coordination with the government and the country’s largest lenders, is preparing to test the use of central bank digital currency (CBDC) for distributing public subsidies, a move officials say could curb misuse and improve accountability. According to financial industry sources, the six major banks [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — The Bank of Korea (BOK) on Wednesday sounded the alarm over the rapid spread of dollar-pegged stablecoins, warning lawmakers that the trend poses risks to monetary sovereignty and financial stability. In a written response submitted to Rep. Park Sung-hoon of the People Power Party, the central bank urged swift [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Hana Bank, a major commercial bank in South Korea, has partnered with Circle, which manages USDC, a cryptocurrency stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar, in a bid to explore stablecoin business opportunities, officials said Monday. The partnership stems from a comprehensive business agreement signed between the two companies in [...]
SEOUL, June 26 (Korea Bizwire) — Naver Pay, a mobile payment service operated by internet giant Naver Corp., said Thursday it is ready to take a leading role in South Korea’s potential won-based stablecoin market, leveraging its extensive digital finance and wallet infrastructure. “There have been active discussions over the past two weeks, but the [...]
SEOUL, June 11 (Korea Bizwire) —As South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party accelerates efforts to legalize and regulate won-based stablecoins, industry insiders warn that a hasty rollout could expose the financial system to disorder and weaken the country’s global competitiveness. In a move reflecting growing pressure from lawmakers, a consortium of major South Korean banks — including [...]
SEOUL, June 10 (Korea Bizwire) — As momentum builds for the launch of won-backed stablecoins in South Korea, the Bank of Korea (BOK) is mounting a vocal defense of the traditional monetary system, warning that poorly designed frameworks could undermine financial stability and weaken the won’s position as legal tender. The central bank will host [...]
TOKYO, Dec. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — GMO Internet (https://www.gmo.jp/en/) holds an internal testing of blockchain, preparing for the launch of a Japanese yen-pegged stablecoin “GMO Japanese YEN (ticker symbol: GYEN; hereinafter, “GYEN”)” in the first half of 2020 outside of Japan, following receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals. GMO Internet’s development and planned launch of [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s “kimchi premium” — a reference to the 15 to 25 percent premium on Bitcoin prices locally compared with foreign markets — is now reversed, with the price of one unit of the most widely known cryptocurrency dropping below valuations abroad. According to Bithumb, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency [...]