IBK Industrial Bank and Shinhan Financial Group have successively filed trademark applications for won-based stablecoins, officially entering the issuance competition.
According to a comprehensive report by Beincrypto on the 30th, IBK Industrial Bank filed 10 trademark applications on the 27th, including 'IBKKRW', 'IBKRW', and 'ONEIBK'. These trademarks are expected to be used for 'stablecoin electronic transfer services' and 'blockchain-based digital financial asset management services'. An IBK representative stated, "This is a proactive measure to respond to changes in the stablecoin market" and "We plan to strategically approach the market by closely monitoring the related legislative situation and market environment".
Shinhan Financial Group also filed 21 stablecoin-related trademark applications on the 26th, including 'KRWSHB', 'SFGKRW', and 'SHKRW'. The application items include 'cryptocurrency financial transaction services' and 'cryptocurrency brokerage services'. A Shinhan Bank representative explained, "We have formed a task force (TF) to continue internal research on stablecoins".
Major commercial banks such as KB Kookmin Bank, Hana Bank, Kakao Bank, and Toss Bank are also joining the competition to secure market leadership by successively filing won-based stablecoin trademark applications. With fintech companies like Naver Financial and Kakao Pay, and even game companies like Nexus participating, the market expansion competition is heating up.
Discussions on stablecoin legislation are also gaining momentum. Democratic Party Representative Min Byung-deok proposed the 'Digital Asset Basic Law', which would allow non-financial companies with over 500 million won in capital to issue stablecoins. Democratic Party members on the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee are also preparing to propose the 'Digital Asset Innovation Law', which would raise the capital requirement to 1 billion won.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Korea's Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) project has been temporarily suspended at the second experiment preparation stage as stablecoin legislation discussions intensify.
