The nominee to lead the Bank of Korea, Shin Hyun-song, has expressed his support for a digital currency system centered around a central bank digital currency and bank-issued deposit tokens, with stablecoins playing a secondary role. According to Yonhap, Shin stated that he expects these digital currencies to coexist with stablecoins in a supplementary and competitive manner. In his written remarks submitted to parliament, Shin emphasized the importance of trust in the currency and proposed introducing a won-based stablecoin.
However, he stressed that stablecoins should be used primarily for trading tokenized assets and enabling programmable payments, rather than replacing state-backed money. Shin's proposal aligns with the central bank's position that stablecoin issuance should be regulated and led by established banks, citing compliance demands such as anti-money laundering and customer checks. He also questioned the potential of blockchain-based coins to improve foreign exchange efficiency due to regulatory compliance uncertainty and added costs. Furthermore, Shin noted that digital assets fall short of fulfilling the core roles of money as a unit of account, medium of exchange, and store of value.
His remarks come amidst ongoing debates among policymakers on how to regulate the market, with the Bank of Korea warning of potential risks to monetary policy and financial stability posed by privately issued tokens.