The Bank of Korea said it plans to prepare a bill with the government this year amending the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act to regulate stablecoins as a means of payment, alongside a monitoring framework for virtual assets, according to local outlet Digital Asset as reported by The Block. Separately, Financial Services Commission chairman Lee Eog-weon told a hearing on Thursday that discussions on the Digital Asset Basic Act were nearing completion.
Why it matters: Bringing stablecoins under the forex law would give the central bank a direct handle on cross-border flows of won and foreign-currency tokens, which matters as global exchanges and stablecoin issuers eye the Korean market. It would also provide legal footing that Japan–Korea stablecoin payment pilots will need if they are to move beyond testing.
Source: The Block, October 23, 2026, citing Digital Asset
Related: Shinhan Card and SBI to test yen stablecoin payments between Japan and Korea · HSBC rolls out HK dollar stablecoin RedCoin to 3.3 million PayMe users
Image: 우한길(HK Woo), CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
