On June 25, according to the Korean Economic Review, eight major Korean commercial banks have joined forces to establish a joint venture company based on the Korean won, aiming to challenge the US dollar-dominated global stablecoin market and actively compete for leadership in the digital asset domain.
The participating institutions include Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, Nonghyup Bank, Industrial Bank of Korea, Fisheries Cooperative Bank, Korea Citibank, and Standard Chartered First Bank. These 8 banks are collaborating with the Open Blockchain and DID Association and the Korea Financial Settlement Institute to prepare for establishing a joint venture for a "Korean won-pegged stablecoin". This marks the first time Korean banks have entered the digital asset business in an alliance form, seen as a signal of the private sector's formal response to the digital asset reality.
Currently, the banks are discussing the construction of shared infrastructure, and they expect to assess the feasibility of establishing the joint venture as early as the end of this year or early next year after completing the relevant legal framework. Regarding the stablecoin issuance model, a final decision has not yet been made, and they are evaluating two approaches from technical and legal perspectives: 1. Trust model: Issuing tokens after custodying customer funds; 2. Deposit token model: Issuing tokens pegged 1:1 with bank deposits.
