Wemade’s confidence...“We’re in the best position for Korea’s stablecoin mainnet”

Proprietary mainnet ‘StableNet’ testnet to be opened on the 30th

Designed on the premise of regulatory compliance...“Even the Bank of Korea will be reassured”

Dunamu and Hashed also join...mainnet race heats up

“We’re the only one to move beyond a PoC to actual implementation”

As discussions to institutionalize Korea’s won-pegged stablecoins gain momentum, Wemade has fired the opening shot in the domestic stablecoin infrastructure race by becoming the first to launch a dedicated mainnet for won stablecoins.

On the 29th, ahead of the launch of the testnet for its won stablecoin mainnet ‘StableNet,’ Wemade unveiled related technology and business plans at a won stablecoin tech seminar, stressing that it has “the capabilities to respond most quickly and flexibly to Korea’s regulatory environment.”

Kim Seok-hwan, Vice President at Wemade, who attended the seminar, said, “StableNet is a blockchain designed on the premise of complying with South Korean regulations,” adding, “We built the structure so it can meet requirements no matter what form the regulations take.”

He added, “Wemade is, without question, the only listed company that has directly operated the full spectrum of blockchain—from a mainnet to platforms, decentralized finance (DeFi), and non-fungible tokens (NFTs),” and said that “the trial and error and pain we experienced have become nourishment for the stablecoin business.”

Wemade said it chose a proprietary mainnet for the “finality of financial transactions.” Kim explained, “Existing public blockchains struggle to earn the trust of financial institutions due to delayed settlement finality or the possibility of reversals,” adding, “This is also why JPMorgan and Circle build their own chains.” He continued, “What the Bank of Korea worries about with stablecoins is also the opacity of fund flows,” and added that “to address this, dedicated infrastructure capable of regulatory compliance is essential.”

Wemade will officially open the StableNet testnet on the 30th and plans to roll out a dedicated wallet next month. The wallet will include an ‘auditable confidential transfer’ feature. Using ERC-5564, transaction details are protected under normal circumstances, but the system is designed to respond transparently when regulators conduct audits or request submissions. Kim emphasized, “Following K-pop and K-culture, we will build financial infrastructure for K-finance.”

Competition over won stablecoin infrastructure in Korea is already intensifying. Earlier, Hashed Open Finance, an affiliate of venture capital firm Hashed, released a litepaper for ‘Maroo,’ a sovereign Layer 1 blockchain designed for Korea’s won-based economy.

Maroo aims for an architecture that maintains the openness and scalability of public blockchains while also factoring in regulatory compliance frameworks, auditability, and privacy protection. Hashed Open Finance plans to first apply Maroo with a won-centric focus with an eye toward stablecoins, real-world asset tokenization (RWA), and security token (STO) commercialization, and then expand to other fiat currencies.

Dunamu, operator of Upbit, Korea’s largest digital-asset exchange, is also seen as a key pillar in the won stablecoin race. Dunamu said it would build a finance-friendly blockchain environment, unveiling last September ‘Giha Chain,’ an Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain based on the OP Stack.

Upbit is Korea’s No. 1 exchange, with spot trading volume totaling KRW 1,740 trillion as of two years ago, and is considered to have the most favorable environment for issuing and distributing won stablecoins given that it already has massive won liquidity and a user base. Dunamu is also accelerating preparations, including for the launch of a dedicated ‘Giha Wallet’ and joint development of blockchain-based financial services with Hana Financial Group.

Against this backdrop, Kim expressed strong confidence in the maturity of Wemade’s technology and its execution speed. He said, “In Korea right now, I believe Wemade is the only one that has moved beyond proof of concept (PoC) to launch an actual testnet and concretely implement even RWA, entering the execution phase,” adding, “Since we have already opened the testnet and will soon introduce a dedicated wallet, we believe we are in the best position in terms of technology and infrastructure.” He added, “We are positioned to respond the fastest the moment the regulatory outline becomes concrete, and we will likely be able to secure the most advantageous footing in the licensing process as well.”