Protocols & Policy · Stablecoins
Bank of Korea Governor Says Won-Stablecoin Issuers Will Be Bank-Led, With Banks Holding 50% Plus One, 'As Agreed'
Governor Shin Hyun-song told lawmakers on Oct. 12 that won-stablecoin issuance would start with bank-led groups, as had been agreed, according to NATV's broadcast of the hearing, nine months after Korea's financial regulator said issuer ownership was undecided.
Won stablecoins would start with groups led by banks, with banks holding 50% plus one share, as had been agreed, Bank of Korea Governor Shin Hyun-song told lawmakers on Oct. 12, according to NATV's broadcast of the hearing. A stablecoin is a token meant to hold a fixed value against a currency, here the Korean won, backed by reserves the issuer holds.
The rule decides who keeps Korea's deposit and payments franchise. A token held in place of a bank balance moves money out of the deposit base banks lend from. A bank majority keeps that business inside the banking system, and leaves exchanges, fintech firms and tech platforms as minority partners.
Why now: the statement came at the National Assembly's annual audit of the central bank, a hearing where a standing committee questions agencies on the record. It puts a share rule on the public record before any bill exists, and nine months after the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the regulator that writes Korea's crypto rules, said that rule had not been settled.
The plan gives banks control of the issuer
The structure the governor described is a consortium, a company owned jointly by several firms. Banks would hold the controlling 50% plus one; others could join with the rest. He described it as the agreed arrangement for now, according to the broadcast.
He gave the answer in the afternoon supplementary round, under questioning from Rep. Lim Lee-ja of the People Power Party. Lim asked whether issuance would open only to bank-led consortia, and who had agreed to it. Shin said the bank-led form was what had been agreed and, asked how it would be composed, said banks would hold 50% plus one, according to NATV's broadcast.
He added two limits. Bank leadership does not on its own settle every financial-safety problem, he said, and the answer seems to change with the scale of the coins. He also said the central bank consults on the plan and intends to be involved from the start of issuance.
Fig. 1. From "not decided" to the governor's testimony (Sources: FSC releases of Jan. 7, March 4 and Aug. 27, 2026; NATV stream of the Oct. 12 audit. Times ET, KST in parentheses.)
| Date (ET) | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Jan. 7, 2026 | FSC says stablecoin issuer shareholding "has not yet been decided" | FSC release (2) |
| March 3, 2026, 8 p.m. ET (March 4, 10 a.m. KST) | FSC's Virtual Asset Committee discusses the government review draft and, separately, "bank-centered (50%+1 stake)" stablecoin issuance | FSC release (3) |
| Aug. 27, 2026 | FSC says it is still preparing the government bill | FSC release (4) |
| Oct. 12, 2026, about 2:06 a.m. ET (about 3:06 p.m. KST) | Governor Shin describes the bank-majority plan to lawmakers | NATV stream (1) |
The regulator said in January the rule was open
On Jan. 7, the FSC answered a newspaper report that the government was leaning toward bank-led issuers with 50% plus one share. Its release, in Le Coin's translation: "The FSC continues to consult with relevant agencies on the main contents of the phase-two virtual asset law, and the main contents, including the shareholder composition of stablecoin issuers, have not yet been decided, so we ask for care in reporting."
Two months later the same figure appeared in the FSC's own words. Its release on the March 4 Virtual Asset Committee meeting said members discussed the government review draft of the Digital Asset Basic Act and, separately, "bank-centered (50%+1 stake)" stablecoin issuance. The FSC did not call it a decision.
The governor went further and described it as agreed.
A plan, not a law
None of this is law. The Digital Asset Basic Act, Korea's planned second-stage crypto law, would set who may issue a won stablecoin. On Aug. 27, the FSC said it was still preparing the government's version of the bill. Until a bill is tabled and passed, the share rule can change.
The objection: a governor is not the regulator
The fair objection is that the Bank of Korea does not write the issuer rules. The FSC does, and the FSC has published nothing on the Oct. 12 remarks. A governor's account of the plan is evidence of where talks stand, and the bill text is what will bind.
The objection holds, up to a point. Le Coin's view: a central bank governor describing the plan to a committee on the record carries more weight than an exclusive newspaper report, which is what the FSC was rebutting in January. The bank-majority figure has also now appeared in an FSC release and in the governor's testimony. What does not matter yet: forecasts of how large won stablecoins could grow.
No retail CBDC, and deposit tokens go on
In the morning round, Rep. Lee Jun-seok of the Reform Party asked about a central bank digital currency. A CBDC is money issued directly by the central bank in digital form. Shin said the Bank of Korea had looked at a retail CBDC, one open to the public, but had not considered it since 2023, according to NATV's broadcast. In the afternoon, he told Lim that the bank won't pursue a retail CBDC.
That is a policy stance, and the central bank's tokenization work continues. The Bank of Korea's own Oct. 8 blog post says it has no plan to issue a retail CBDC and has run no retail CBDC research or pilots since Project Hangang began in 2023. Project Hangang is its test of deposit tokens, bank deposits recorded as tokens on a shared ledger settled with a digital currency only banks can hold. The post says a follow-up live test open to the public is set to resume by the end of this year.
Le Coin's view: both answers keep digital won inside banks.
The tell
Watch the bill. If the government's Digital Asset Basic Act text carries a 50%-plus-one bank share for issuers, the governor's account becomes the rule. If it carries a lower bank share or none, the FSC's January line was the accurate one. The last FSC word on the bill's status, on Aug. 27, was that it was still being prepared.
Sources
Accessed Oct. 12, 2026, 4:20 to 4:26 p.m. ET. Translations from Korean are Le Coin's.
- NATV (국회방송), official full stream of the National Assembly audit of the Bank of Korea, Oct. 12, 2026 KST. Supports the governor's statements on the issuer plan and on a retail CBDC, and the questioners. Data source for the Oct. 12 row of Fig. 1; KST converted to ET by subtracting 13 hours: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyNESHjs-uU
- Financial Services Commission, explanatory release, Jan. 7, 2026. Supports the "not yet decided" text. Data source for the Jan. 7 row of Fig. 1: https://www.fsc.go.kr/no010102/85999
- Financial Services Commission, press release on the first 2026 Virtual Asset Committee meeting, March 4, 2026. Supports that the committee discussed the government review draft and, separately, "bank-centered (50%+1 stake)" issuance. Data source for the March row of Fig. 1: https://www.fsc.go.kr/no010101/86373
- Financial Services Commission, explanatory release, Aug. 27, 2026. Supports that the government bill was still being prepared. Data source for the Aug. 27 row of Fig. 1: https://www.fsc.go.kr/no010102/87600
- Bank of Korea, Digital Currency Planning Team blog post, Oct. 8, 2026. Supports the no-retail-CBDC plan, Project Hangang and deposit tokens: https://www.bok.or.kr/portal/bbs/B0000347/view.do?menuNo=201106&nttId=11065408
Holding the Corner.
Not financial advice.