South Korea's National Assembly Discusses Eligibility for Issuing Won-Denominated Stablecoins, as Industry Calls for Opening to Fintech and Digital Asset Firms

TechFlow reported on Nov. 12 that, according to South Korean media outlet ZDNet Korea, South Korea's National Assembly held a special hearing on the regulation of won-denominated stablecoins. Ryu Hong-yeol, CEO of digital asset custody firm BDACS, called for won-denominated stablecoin issuance eligibility not to be limited to banks, and for fintech and digital asset companies that meet regulatory requirements to be allowed to participate.

Currently, one of the main issues in the legislative discussion of South Korea's Digital Asset Basic Act is whether issuers must be more than 50% owned by banks. Ryu Hong-yeol argued that regulation should focus on assessing companies' reserve asset management, technical controls for issuance and redemption, and independent audit capabilities, rather than relying solely on the type of institution.

The meeting also discussed regulatory issues including cold wallet custody for stablecoins, key management, multisig, audit cycles, and the scope of permitted blockchain networks, and proposed moderate adjustments to network segregation rules for financial institutions.

Source: TechFlow