The banking arm of South Korean IT large Kakao Company is reportedly ramping up plans to supply stablecoin providers amid a regulatory shift within the nation after the election of pro-crypto President Lee Jae-myung.
KakaoBanks’ chief monetary officer Kwon Tae-hoon mentioned through the firm’s first-half 2025 earnings name that the corporate is “reviewing numerous strategies equivalent to issuance and custody,” and “plans to actively take part,” within the “digital asset ecosystem,” ZDNet Korea reported on Wednesday
Kwon added that the initiative is being spearheaded in cooperation with Kakao’s Stablecoin Job Drive, which incorporates high management from its core associates, together with KakaoPay.
KakaoBanks’ stablecoin transfer follows the election of President Lee Jae-myung in June, who has since pushed ahead with numerous crypto-related legal guidelines, together with a bill to legalize stablecoins.
KakaoBank laying groundwork
KakaoBank filed for stablecoin-related logos on June 23, concurrently rival Kookmin Financial institution, a subsidiary of KB Monetary Group. Eight different South Korean banks are also planning Korean won-pegged stablecoins to launch by 2026.
Kwon reportedly mentioned KakaoBank already has expertise in digital belongings, having “efficiently carried out pockets opening, exchanges,” and took part within the Bank of Korea’s central bank digital currency experiment.
“For the previous three years, we now have been issuing real-name verified accounts for digital asset exchanges and have been working risk-related measures equivalent to Know Your Buyer and Anti-Cash Laundering-based monitoring,” Kwon mentioned.
KakaoBank has 25.86 million customers, representing roughly half of South Korea’s inhabitants of 51.7 million, and $46.47 billion in belongings below administration as of March this yr.
Crypto alternate users in South Korea have surpassed 16 million, after receiving a lift from US President Donald Trump’s election win final November. The determine represents greater than 30% of the nation’s inhabitants.
KakaoBank inventory stays flat
After KakaoBank filed for stablecoin-related trademarks, its inventory worth jumped to 37,000 Korean gained ($27) from round 30,400 gained ($22.60), representing a 19.3% enhance.
Nonetheless, following the most recent replace to its stablecoin plans, the share worth made solely small good points on Wednesday, rising to a peak of $20.10 for the buying and selling session, earlier than dropping to $19.43 by the bell.
Within the newest buying and selling session on Thursday, its inventory worth made a small achieve, rising 0.93% to commerce at $19.60.
The financial institution has been working since 2016 and was based by a partnership between Korea Funding Holdings and Kakao Corp.
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World curiosity in stablecoin adoption grows
Different giant firms and even nations have been displaying an growing curiosity in using stablecoins in some kind.
A Could 14 report from enterprise-grade digital belongings platform Fireblocks discovered that 90% of institutional players surveyed are exploring using stablecoins of their operations.
A Russian Finance Ministry official floated a plan for the federal government to develop its own stablecoin in April, whereas a trio of main Abu Dhabi establishments teamed as much as create a new dirham-pegged stablecoin in the identical month.
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