KakaoPay CEO Shin Won-keun Says Stablecoins, AI Can Help Korea Lead Future Finance at EastPoint: Seoul 2026

Outlook for an Era of Financial Transactions Between AI Agents

'South Korea Must Not Fall Further Behind ... We Will Accelerate Change'

KakaoPay is accelerating efforts to build next-generation financial infrastructure that combines stablecoins and artificial intelligence. The company says it aims to respond to market shifts driven by the convergence of on-chain finance and AI agents and to compete more aggressively in global finance.

KakaoPay Chief Executive Officer Shin Won-keun presented that vision in a keynote speech on Sept. 28 at EastPoint: Seoul 2026, a private global Web3 conference held at the Westin Seoul Parnas in Seoul's Samseong-dong. He cited three core shifts in future finance: the softwareization of money, the tokenization of assets and the integration of on-chain financial networks.

Shin pointed to stablecoin networks as an alternative to the complexity of the existing financial system. South Korea has a fast and secure financial network, he said, but it is expensive to operate multiple financial networks separated by use. That complexity becomes even greater in cross-border transactions.

In stablecoin-based on-chain networks, he said, not only funds and assets but also the rights and obligations tied to transactions can be handled on a single network. That means the current financial structure, in which payments, settlement and asset transfers are split apart, could be linked through a unified blockchain-based network.

Shin said AI will further speed the shift in financial infrastructure. Until now, people have made and executed financial decisions, but AI agents could eventually handle not only payments but also more complex financial tasks such as lending and insurance.

He also said the combination of AI and on-chain finance could give rise to always-on financial services as well as a new economic ecosystem in which AI agents transact directly with one another.

Shin also introduced KakaoPay's recently launched financial assistant service, AI Coach. AI Coach analyzes users' financial information and provides tailored advice for more rational spending. It does not currently recommend specific financial products or directly execute transactions, but the scope of AI agents in financial services could widen once related regulations are put in place, he said.

He stressed that building future financial infrastructure will require cooperation across the broader financial ecosystem, beyond technology development by individual companies. That includes on-chain networks through which stablecoins circulate, compliance and trust systems to support the movement of digital assets, and financial companies responsible for real-world distribution and use.

Global financial companies are fiercely competing to take the lead in future financial infrastructure, Shin said, but Korean companies have had little visible presence in that race. South Korea can no longer afford to fall behind, he added. Someone must serve as a catalyst to accelerate the shift, and KakaoPay wants to take on that role.

Bae Tae-woong / Lee Soo-hyun, Bloomingbit reporter