The newly appointed Governor of the Financial institution of Korea, Shin Hyun-song, has voiced help for central financial institution digital currencies (CBDCs) and tokenized deposits in his first public tackle.
Shin, who started his four-year time period after an inauguration ceremony in Seoul on Tuesday, stated the central financial institution will advance the second section of “Mission Hangang,” a Financial institution of Korea-led pilot mission to check a blockchain-based, wholesale CBDC system.
He additionally pointed to worldwide cooperation efforts, together with the “Agora Mission,” a world collaborative initiative launched in April 2024 by the Financial institution for Worldwide Settlements (BIS) and 7 central banks to discover the tokenization of cross-border funds. Shin stated these initiatives “will elevate the standing of the Korean received within the digital fee setting.”
Whereas earlier studies had advised Shin was open to won-based stablecoins, he didn’t point out stablecoins in his inaugural speech.
South Korea’s stablecoin invoice stays stalled, with regulators and lawmakers cut up over whether or not issuance of won-pegged tokens needs to be restricted to business banks or opened as much as non-bank gamers reminiscent of fintech and tech companies.
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Shin flags geopolitical dangers
Shin additionally talked about rising tensions within the Center East and its impact on oil costs, saying that the Financial institution of Korea should adapt to rising uncertainty pushed by geopolitical shocks, inflation pressures and shifts within the international financial system.
“We should attempt for value and monetary stability via the operation of prudent and versatile financial coverage,” he stated.
Shin was the BIS financial adviser from Could 2014 to March 2026 and in addition served as head of the Financial and Financial Division from January 2025, in response to the BIS web site.
Final month, he revealed an instructional paper arguing that stablecoins fail to fulfill a core property of cash, “unity,” as a result of blockchain networks are inherently fragmented throughout completely different chains with various charges, safety and decentralisation ranges.
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South Korea to check tokenized deposits for presidency spending
South Korea’s Ministry of Financial system and Finance is getting ready to check blockchain-based funds for chosen authorities bills as a part of a regulatory sandbox exploring distributed ledger expertise in public finance.
The pilot will use tokenized deposits to execute authorities operational spending, with a full rollout focused for the fourth quarter of 2026. The preliminary section might be launched in Sejong Metropolis and can embody circumstances reminiscent of limits on timing and spending classes.
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