Kakao Pay CEO Shin Won-keun Says Stablecoins Are Key to AI Payments, Urges Faster Regulation

Kakao Pay CEO Shin Won-keun called for faster rules on stablecoins to support the expansion of financial services built around artificial intelligence agents.

Speaking in a keynote address at Seoul Fintech Week 2026 at Conrad Seoul in Yeouido on Oct. 26, Shin said preparations for stablecoins need to move more quickly. He also stressed the need to speed up institutional preparations for tokenization and digital assets.

Shin said AI agents will need payment infrastructure, reliability and a clearer regulatory framework before they can become participants in financial transactions. In particular, he said stablecoins could offer an effective alternative for small, frequent payments that are hard to process through existing financial networks.

For example, when an AI agent buys investment materials on behalf of a user, repeated payments of a few won to several dozen won could occur. Shin said fees under existing card or bank payment systems are too high, while stablecoins would enable automated payments without separate card-information entry and could simplify cross-border transactions.

As a related technology example, he cited x402, a payment protocol led by Coinbase. Under the system, an AI agent pays for a service in stablecoins, and the provider confirms the payment before delivering the required information. Kakao Pay joined the x402 Foundation, launched in April, as the only founding member from South Korea and is cooperating on the development of global payment standards.

Kakao Pay is also carrying out technology verification for a won-denominated stablecoin business. Last month, it completed a proof of concept integrating blockchain-based asset management functions into the Kakao Pay Money wallet. It also tested technology with KB Kookmin Bank related to stablecoin issuance, redemption and overseas payments. Kakao Group is also expanding cooperation with overseas digital-asset companies including Circle and Fireblocks.

However, the Digital Asset Basic Act, needed to introduce a won-denominated stablecoin, is still pending in the National Assembly. Differences remain between financial authorities and the Bank of Korea over the issuing entity, leaving the timing of commercialization uncertain.

Shin also stressed the need to establish security measures and a liability framework as AI agents play a bigger role in financial transactions. That includes preventing transactions that exceed a user's authorization and clearly defining responsibility if an accident occurs. He added that related regulations need to be introduced in stages, based on the scope of an AI agent's role and its level of risk.