Kakao Pushes Won-Based Stablecoin for Everyday Payments

Kakao Group is stepping up plans for a won-denominated stablecoin that consumers could use for everyday payments and money transfers. Beyond securing the technology needed to issue and circulate the token, the group is verifying actual use cases and moving to build an ecosystem involving financial firms and platform operators.

Kakao Group said on the 29th that it unveiled its digital asset business plans at Next Finance Korea, an event it co-hosted with KB Kookmin Bank. The group identified expanding circulation of a won-based stablecoin and building payment and settlement infrastructure based on digital assets as its main tasks.

Kakao has been reviewing the business case for a won-based stablecoin since last year and has entered a stage of securing issuance and circulation technology while identifying and testing real-world applications. The company is focusing in particular on making the stablecoin a routine means of payment and transfer by drawing on Kakao Pay's user base of 43 million. At the event, the group presented use cases it developed in-house, including transfers and payments based on digital asset wallets, inbound cross-border payments and settlement, and agentic payments powered by artificial intelligence.

Kakao Group also proposed forming a roundtable, an open cooperation body that would bring in a wide range of participants including banks, securities firms and other financial institutions, fintech and platform companies, virtual asset service providers and e-commerce businesses. Shin Won-keun, chief executive of Kakao Pay and co-head of Kakao Group's stablecoin task force, said cooperation and participation by diverse players across issuance, circulation, regulation and security are essential if the country is not to fall behind in the race to build next-generation financial infrastructure created by the convergence of AI and blockchain.