Korea Budget Office: The Korean won stablecoin could save merchants up to $3.8 billion annually

The National Assembly Budget Office of South Korea released a report stating that stablecoins could save South Korean merchants between 370 billion and 5.15 trillion Korean won (approximately 275 million to 3.8 billion USD) in payment processing fees each year. The report also warned that the widespread adoption of stablecoins could weaken banks' role as credit intermediaries and disrupt token pegs during large-scale redemptions. It suggested introducing reserve requirements, limiting stablecoin rewards, and strengthening regulation of tokens that may threaten financial stability. Regarding the issuance rights of stablecoins, there are differences between the Bank of Korea and the Financial Services Commission: the Bank of Korea prefers issuance to be dominated by bank-controlled issuers (holding at least 51%), while the Financial Services Commission believes excessive restrictions may hinder innovation. In addition, South Korea plans to expand the scope of tokenized securities by February 2027, with subsequent phases connecting blockchain-based securities markets to stablecoin payment infrastructure. A study released by the Bank of Korea earlier this month also found that directly trading USD stablecoins with local currency on Binance could depress the local currency exchange rate.