Three of South Korea's largest technology and financial conglomerates are building competing blockchain infrastructure to issue Korean won-pegged stablecoins, even as the legislation that would authorize them remains stalled in the National Assembly. Toss, the $10B+ fintech super-app with 30 mill...
"We will issue and distribute won-based stablecoin — that I can say for sure." — Lee Seung-gun, Founder and CEO, Toss (Viva Republica)
Three of South Korea's largest technology and financial conglomerates are building competing blockchain infrastructure to issue Korean won-pegged stablecoins, even as the legislation that would authorize them remains stalled in the National Assembly. Toss, the $10B+ fintech super-app with 30 million registered users, disclosed on April 6 that it is developing a proprietary blockchain mainnet and has filed 24 stablecoin-related trademarks. Meanwhile, Naver Financial's pending acquisition of Upbit operator Dunamu — valued at approximately KRW 20 trillion ($13.7B) — would merge Korea's largest search platform with its largest crypto exchange, backed by a purpose-built blockchain called GIWA. KakaoBank, the digital banking arm of Korea's dominant messaging platform, has moved its own KRW stablecoin from research to active development.
Together, these three groups represent over 80 million user accounts across payments, banking, securities, and messaging. The total addressable market is South Korea's entire 51.7 million population. Yet no KRW-pegged stablecoin has received regulatory approval, and the Digital Asset Basic Act — initially expected in Q1 2026 — now faces delays that could push passage into 2027 or later. The companies are building first and waiting for permission second.
Toss, operated by Viva Republica, disclosed on April 6 that it is recruiting blockchain engineers and evaluating whether to build a full layer-1 (L1) network from scratch or deploy a layer-2 (L2) solution on an existing chain. The company has been posting engineering roles since February 2026 covering wallet systems, API and transaction processing, node operations, cryptographic signing, and financial compliance.
The numbers behind the ambition are substantial. Toss reported revenue of 1.96 trillion won ($1.4B) in its most recent fiscal year and operating profit of 90.7 billion won ($63M), marking its first profitable year. The platform operates Toss Bank (11.78 million users, 27.5 trillion won in deposits as of end-2024), Toss Securities (8.6 million cumulative subscribers as of February 2026, operating profit up 203% year-over-year to 452.1 billion won), and Toss Payments — all under a single super-app serving approximately 24 million monthly active users.
A Stablecoin Task Force led by Chief Business Officer Kyuha Kim filed 24 KRW stablecoin trademarks in June 2025, including "TOSSKRW." The company is also developing a Web3 wallet integrated directly into the existing app — no separate download required — that would support virtual asset storage, transfers, payments, and tokenized securities management. The company has disclosed it is exploring partnerships with KB Financial and Samsung Card as part of its digital asset infrastructure plans.
Toss is simultaneously preparing for a U.S. IPO, targeting Q2 2026 with a valuation above $10B and potentially exceeding $15B. If completed, it would be the largest U.S. listing by a South Korean company since Coupang's $4.6 billion debut in 2021. CEO Lee Seung-gun has stated that international users should account for half of Toss's total users within five years, with Australia as the first expansion market.
The blockchain and stablecoin strategy appears designed to create a vertically integrated financial stack: a user acquires won via Toss Bank, holds a KRW stablecoin issued on Toss's own chain, trades tokenized securities via Toss Securities, and pays merchants through Toss Payments — all without leaving the app or touching a third-party blockchain.
The second major contender is the Naver Financial–Dunamu combination. At Dunamu's shareholder meeting on March 31, 2026, the company reaffirmed its plan to complete a share exchange with Naver Financial at a ratio of 2.54:1, with Naver Financial's post-merger valuation estimated at approximately KRW 20 trillion ($13.7B). The merged entity would combine Naver Pay (Korea's largest online payments platform), Upbit (Korea's largest crypto exchange with approximately $1.08B in daily spot volume), and Naver's AI capabilities into a single corporate structure.
The technical foundation for the stablecoin effort is GIWA, a purpose-built, regulation-ready blockchain being developed by Dunamu. GIWA incorporates two notable features: Dojang, an identity verification layer, and Bojagi, a transaction privacy module. These are designed specifically to meet the compliance requirements that Korean financial regulators will impose on stablecoin issuers — namely, full KYC/AML integration and reserve transparency.
This combination addresses the distribution problem that pure-play crypto firms face. Naver Pay's merchant network provides immediate off-ramp utility for a KRW stablecoin, while Upbit's exchange infrastructure provides on-ramp liquidity and trading pairs. The merger effectively creates a closed loop: fiat deposits through Naver Pay, stablecoin issuance via GIWA, and trading via Upbit.
Kakao Group, operator of KakaoTalk (used by approximately 93% of South Korea's smartphone users), has moved its KRW stablecoin initiative from research to active development. KakaoBank, the group's digital banking subsidiary, is building the stablecoin infrastructure, with plans to connect KakaoPay, KakaoBank, and KakaoTalk into a unified digital wallet.
KakaoBank holds a distinct regulatory advantage: as a licensed commercial bank, it would face fewer obstacles under the Bank of Korea's preferred 51% bank-ownership requirement for stablecoin issuers. If the BOK's position prevails in the final legislation, KakaoBank could issue stablecoins without needing to restructure its corporate ownership — a significant head start over non-bank competitors like Toss and Naver.
The Digital Asset Basic Act, which would establish the legal framework for stablecoin issuance in South Korea, has been delayed repeatedly. Initially expected to pass in late 2025, it was pushed to Q1 2026. As of April 2026, industry insiders are growing concerned it may not pass within this year.
The central dispute is over who can issue stablecoins. The Bank of Korea has argued that only entities with majority (51%) bank ownership should be permitted to issue stablecoins, citing existing solvency and AML requirements at licensed banks. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) has pushed back, warning that a strict 51% rule would block fintech firms with the technical capacity to build scalable blockchain infrastructure.
Several additional factors are compounding the delay:
The draft legislation, where it stands, would require stablecoin issuers to maintain reserves exceeding 100% of circulating supply, held at banks or approved institutions and segregated from the issuer's balance sheet. A proposed no-fault liability provision would make operators responsible for user losses even without proven negligence. Foreign stablecoin issuers such as Circle (USDC) would need to establish a local branch or subsidiary to operate in Korea.
Traditional banks have formed their own consortium. Hana Financial Group, BNK Financial, iM Bank, and SC First Bank have joined forces to develop a KRW stablecoin. Separately, a seven-bank group including KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, NongHyup, Industrial Bank of Korea, Suhyup, and Standard Chartered Korea had previously announced stablecoin plans for late 2025 or early 2026, though no launch has materialized.
On the infrastructure side, a crypto exchange backed by Citadel Securities is creating the first blockchain-based derivative of the Korean won versus the U.S. dollar — one of Asia's busiest currency pairs, according to Bloomberg. This signals that institutional demand for on-chain KRW exposure extends beyond domestic retail.
The existing KRW stablecoin market remains negligible: CoinGecko data puts total KRW stablecoin market capitalization at approximately $1.35 million. The gap between the near-zero current market and the billions in infrastructure investment underscores that these companies are building for a post-regulation market that does not yet exist.
| Metric | Toss | Naver-Upbit | Kakao | |---|---|---|---| | Registered Users | ~30M | Naver Pay: undisclosed; Upbit: dominant exchange | KakaoTalk: ~47M | | Valuation | $10-15B (IPO target) | ~$13.7B (post-merger) | KakaoBank: publicly listed | | Banking License | Yes (Toss Bank) | No (exchange + payments) | Yes (KakaoBank) | | Own Blockchain | In development (L1 or L2 TBD) | GIWA (purpose-built) | Klaytn legacy (Kaia) | | Stablecoin Trademarks | 24 filed | Joint issuance planned | Active development | | Revenue | $1.4B (FY) | Upbit: ~$1B+ (est.) | KakaoBank: publicly reported |
South Korea's broader crypto market context: trading volume across the country's five major won-denominated exchanges fell to approximately 77.6 trillion won ($57.5B) in the December 2025–January 2026 period, down from 371.4 trillion won ($275.1B) in the comparable year-prior period. Upbit alone saw volume drop 82%, from 271.6 trillion won to 49.0 trillion won. The stablecoin infrastructure race is occurring against a backdrop of sharply declining crypto trading activity.
Three conglomerates — Toss, Naver-Upbit, and Kakao — are building parallel KRW stablecoin infrastructure, each leveraging distinct competitive advantages: Toss has a vertically integrated financial super-app and pending U.S. IPO; Naver-Upbit combines the largest exchange with the largest payments platform; Kakao has messaging ubiquity and a banking license.
The regulatory framework does not yet exist. The Digital Asset Basic Act faces delays from the BOK-FSC dispute over bank ownership requirements, geopolitical distractions, elections, and a BOK leadership change. Passage in 2026 is uncertain.
The 51% bank-ownership rule is the key variable. If adopted, it favors KakaoBank and traditional bank consortiums. If rejected, Toss and Naver gain a clearer path.
Current KRW stablecoin market cap is approximately $1.35 million — effectively zero. Billions in infrastructure investment are targeting a market that is entirely pre-regulatory.
Korea's crypto trading volume has declined 79% year-over-year, suggesting the stablecoin buildout is a bet on structural utility (payments, settlements, tokenized securities) rather than speculative trading demand.
South Korea's KRW stablecoin race represents one of the largest pre-regulatory infrastructure bets in global crypto markets. Three groups valued at a combined $35B+ are building blockchain infrastructure, filing trademarks, hiring engineers, and forming partnerships — all for a product category that has no legal authorization to exist. The winner will likely control a significant portion of South Korea's $57.5B+ digital asset transaction flow, and potentially the on-chain representation of a currency used by 51.7 million people.
The timeline depends entirely on the National Assembly and the incoming BOK governor. Until the Digital Asset Basic Act passes, the infrastructure remains dormant. The companies appear to have concluded that arriving late to a regulated market is a worse outcome than building early in a pre-regulatory one. Whether that bet pays off depends on a single variable: when — not if — South Korea legalizes KRW stablecoins.