Table of Contents
Researcher
\[ASA News] is a bi-weekly newsletter where we share the most important news related to stablecoin in Asia. (2026.03.16~03.29)*
Written by Moyed
1. [News] Participating Banks Expand to Nine; Biometric Authentication, P2P Transfers, and Digital Voucher Scope Broadened
Source: Bank of Korea begins phase two of Project Hangang
The Bank of Korea has officially launched Phase 2 of Project Hangang, its initiative to build next-generation payment and settlement infrastructure based on a wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) and deposit tokens. Phase 1 (Oct 2023–Aug 2025) built a blockchain-based digital currency system and verified functionality across the full lifecycle of manufacturing, issuance, circulation, redemption, and disposal. A live-transaction pilot conducted from April to June saw 81,000 participants process 114,880 transactions.
Phase 2 expands participating banks from seven (KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, Hana, IBK, NH Nonghyup, Busan) to nine with BNK Kyongnam and iM Bank joining. Merchant coverage widens from small businesses to large enterprises, focused on fee savings from deposit token payments. A P2P remittance function is newly introduced, alongside biometric authentication and automatic conversion between bank deposits and deposit tokens. Digital voucher applications expand, and the technology will be applied to an EV charging infrastructure project linked to a government pilot for blockchain-based execution of national treasury funds. The BOK also said it will continue researching deposit token use in AI agent services and tokenised bond/stock transactions.
2. [Commentary] Deposit Tokens and Stablecoins: Different Design Philosophies Toward the Same Destination
To understand the essence of Project Hangang Phase 2, one must first examine why the Bank of Korea chose the path of "deposit tokens" rather than private stablecoins. Deposit tokens are tokenised commercial bank deposits, a structure that preserves the existing banking system's credit creation function and depositor protection framework while adding programmability. Stablecoins, by contrast, are pre-funded models where an issuer holds reserves to maintain a 1:1 peg. Both operate onchain, but their positions within the monetary system are fundamentally different. Deposit tokens achieve final settlement in central bank reserves, guaranteeing "singleness"—the principle that tokens issued by any bank are exchangeable at par. Stablecoins, however, can fluctuate in value depending on the issuer's credit risk.
The Phase 1 live-transaction pilot demonstrated that this design can work technically. More notable than the raw numbers is that seven banks successfully issued and circulated interoperable deposit tokens on shared infrastructure. The addition of P2P transfers, biometric authentication, and automatic conversion in Phase 2 reads as an effort to raise the user experience to banking-app level and lower adoption barriers. The expansion into public-sector applications such as digital vouchers and treasury fund execution is also significant, serving as proof cases that the value of programmable money lies not just in payments but in conditional execution.
