"Expansion of Dollar-Linked Virtual Asset Dominance... Need for Won Stablecoin"

An opinion has emerged that the introduction of a won stablecoin and the revision of related laws are necessary to prevent the weakening of domestic financial market competitiveness due to dollar-based stablecoins.

Hashed's think tank, HashedOpenResearch (HOR), published a report on the 24th titled 'The Need for Won Stablecoin and Legislative Proposal', diagnosing that dollar-based stablecoins like Tether (USDT) or Circle's USD Coin (USDC) are exacerbating capital outflows in virtual assets (cryptocurrencies) and pose a potential threat to the domestic financial system and the won.

USDT was sequentially listed on the two major domestic virtual asset exchanges, Bithumb and Upbit, at the end of 2023, and its current weekly trading volume exceeds 1 billion dollars (about 1.4 trillion won). It is the second most traded single virtual asset after Bitcoin.

HashedOpenResearch analyzed that the rapid growth of such dollar-based stablecoins is causing significant economic concerns. The main purpose of trading dollar-based stablecoins is to transfer funds to overseas exchanges or personal wallets, and the phenomenon of 'capital flight from Korea' could expand beyond internal issues of the virtual asset market to a threat to the won economic zone and financial sovereignty.

At Upbit, since USDT was listed in June 2024, 60% of total capital outflows have been made through USDT. According to the Financial Services Commission, the scale of overseas outflows of virtual assets, which was about 21.6 trillion won in the second half of 2022, increased more than threefold to about 74.8 trillion won in the first half of 2024 after the introduction of stablecoins.

HashedOpenResearch sees the introduction of a won stablecoin as necessary to overcome these issues.

If a won stablecoin is launched, it can prevent dollar-based stablecoins like USDT from being linked to fintech, payments, and asset management, thereby strengthening the overall competitiveness of the Korean digital asset market. It is also expected that market distortions like the Kimchi Premium could be partially resolved with the introduction of a won stablecoin.

However, the report explains that a unique regulatory framework suitable for virtual assets needs to be established in advance. Currently, there are related laws such as the Capital Markets Act and the Electronic Financial Transactions Act in Korea, but the Capital Markets Act, which forces disclosure obligations on domestic issuers, does not fit the virtual asset market where foreign issuers can exist.

Kim Yong-beom, CEO of HashedOpenResearch, said, "Stablecoins are gaining attention from various aspects, and major countries like the United States, Europe, and Japan are actively pursuing the institutionalization and legislation of stablecoins as a top priority," adding, "Korea also needs institutional and policy considerations and research on stablecoins to maintain the competitiveness of the won."