- Tether and Circle are separately meeting up with key executives from various banking groups in South Korea.
- The parties will discuss possible partnerships and expansions as regulators work on integrating won-backed stablecoins provisions into the Virtual Asset Protection Act.
The stablecoin revolution is now on full throttle. The Yonhap News Agency recently claimed that Tether and Circle Internet Group are separately rounding up executives in different financial institutions for broader expansion in South Korea. The parties are expected to discuss possible partnerships and distribution channels for the planned won-backed stablecoins.
Tether and Circle reportedly seek to capitalize on the rising interest of traditional banks in cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. The move aligns with the pro-crypto administration of President Lee Jae Myung, who is pushing a won-based stablecoin to boost his country’s digital economy. It also aims to accelerate the use of the country’s fiat currency in cross-border payments, remittances, and decentralized finance (DeFi).
Integration of Won-Backed Stablecoin in the Virtual Asset Protection Act
The meeting comes at an opportune time as the Financial Services Commission (FSC) is ironing out a proposed bill for won-denominated stablecoins. The news outlet, citing political sources, stated that the National Assembly will tackle the matter in October.
The bill will focus on their issuance, collateral management, and internal control systems. Then, the agreed provisions will be consolidated within the second phase of the country’s Virtual Asset Protection Act.
Confirmed Meetings, So Far
The source said that the CEOs of the Shinhan Financial Group and Hana Financial Group, Jin Ok-dong and Ham Young-joo, have already booked separate meetings with Circle President Heath Tarbert on Friday. The head honcho of the Hana Group also has an appointment with an official from Tether on the same day.
Additionally, the source revealed that the Circle president will meet with Lee Chang-kwon, Chief Digital & Information Technology Officer of KB Financial Group, and Jeong Jin-wan, President of Woori Bank. However, there’s no schedule yet for their incoming engagement.
A Promising Development
Rajiv Sawhney, Head of International Portfolio Management at Wave Digital Assets International, commented that the event is an “interesting” development in a statement with Decrypt. This is due to the stringent nature of digital asset regulations in South Korea, which is quite a surprise considering that the country is one of the top 20 crypto adopters worldwide.
Furthermore, the report comes at a time when the FSC and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) have recently requested crypto lending service providers to suspend their operations as they formulate new guidelines on their activities.
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