Ahn Do-geol Says Won Stablecoins Are Core Infrastructure for Monetary Sovereignty at EastPoint: Seoul 2026

"Stablecoins are foundational monetary and financial infrastructure for the digital-transition era. As the shift toward an AI-centered era accelerates, stablecoins could become one of the essential means of payment. Ensuring that won-denominated stablecoins play part of that role in the digital-currency era is also a way to safeguard our monetary sovereignty."

Ahn Do-geol, a lawmaker from South Korea's Democratic Party, made the remarks on September 28 at EastPoint: Seoul 2026, a global private conference on digital assets held at the Westin Josun Seoul Parnas in Seoul's Samseong-dong.

The panel discussion, titled "From Deposits to Digital Money: How Institutions Enter the Stablecoin Era," featured Ahn; Vidit Agarwal, Circle's vice president for partnerships and business development in Asia-Pacific; Guy Ollet, general partner at a16z Crypto; Vivek Diwakar, head of the Canton Foundation; and Harry Jung, managing director of strategy and partnerships at Nxum.

Ahn said stablecoins would go beyond serving as a payment tool and become the basis for a new wave of financial innovation. If institutionalized, they would not simply be a more efficient version of existing financial instruments but a platform that creates opportunities for a range of financial innovations. The changes brought by stablecoins are not limited to the arrival of a new payment method. They amount to building new financial infrastructure for digital finance and the AI era.

Jung, a former deputy executive director at the White House Digital Asset Advisory Council, said institutional participation in the U.S. is gaining momentum following regulatory changes. In the past, retail users drove much of the activity. Now institutions and infrastructure companies are entering the stablecoin market in earnest. Since the GENIUS Act, the number of companies seeking to enter the U.S. market has risen sharply.

Agarwal said banks in Asia are also rapidly changing their stance on stablecoins. In the past, only innovation teams attended meetings. Now teams responsible for actual negotiations and business operations are joining as well. The conversation has shifted to what can be built together.

Ollet said new revenue models are likely to emerge around payments. The focus should not be limited to exchanges or liquidity alone. Market participants also need to examine a broader range of payment-related use cases. Various services and monetization models could be built on top of stablecoin infrastructure.

Diwakar said confidentiality, settlement finality and regulatory compliance are the key requirements for institutional adoption. In institutional finance, not every position and transaction can be disclosed to every counterparty. Because institutions across multiple jurisdictions work together, infrastructure must take both global and local considerations into account.

Stablecoin Adoption Rises Among Institutions, With Interoperability and Price Stability Key Challenges

Panelists said regulatory and market-infrastructure hurdles still need to be resolved for broader institutional adoption.

Diwakar cited regulatory clarity and market fragmentation as the main challenges. The issue is not how quickly rules are written. More important is building a framework at an appropriate pace so actual services can be launched. Policymakers also need to consider how different systems can be standardized and combined.

Agarwal emphasized interoperability. If multiple types of stablecoins emerge, interoperability among them must be ensured. That will require neutral infrastructure that is not dependent on any one company or technology.

Ahn identified circulation and price-stabilization mechanisms as central issues. Infrastructure must be built so stablecoins can circulate smoothly, while risks arising in the process of disintermediation must also be managed. Safeguards are also needed to protect the price of late entrants or stablecoins with smaller circulation volumes.

Jung said policymakers should reflect the views of industry participants when designing rules. The key question is what kind of outcomes these policies will produce and whether they will create real economic value. People who understand the market need to participate in the policymaking process.

Ollet said privacy is another major issue. It remains important, but it still is not getting enough attention. Privacy must also be implemented at scale on-chain for institutions to adopt the technology more broadly.

Oh Yoo-rim, reporter / Kang Min-seung, Bloomingbit reporter