The Bank of Korea has decided to postpone the second test of 'Project Han River', a central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot service targeting Korea.
According to a compilation of BeInCrypto's reporting on the 30th, the Bank of Korea held a non-face-to-face meeting with commercial banks that participated in the first test on June 26th and notified them of the temporary suspension of the second test plan. This decision is interpreted as not unrelated to the ongoing discussions about institutionalizing the RON stablecoin at the National Assembly and financial authorities. Particularly, in a situation where differences have emerged between the Bank of Korea and the Financial Services Commission regarding the issuer and supervisory agency of the RON stablecoin, it is understood that the Bank of Korea has decided to postpone the test before clearly organizing the policy environment.
Previously, the Bank of Korea conducted the first test of 'Project Han River' from April 1st to June 30th, spanning about three months. It was an experiment to allow financial consumers to convert their bank deposits into 'deposit tokens' in digital currency form for use in real life.
Consumers experienced actual payments at some offline franchises like Kyobo Bookstore and Seven Eleven through the participating bank apps using their deposit-based tokens. After the first test, they had planned to review more diverse payment application scenarios in the second test, but its implementation was suspended due to an assessment that the related institutional environment was insufficient.
Although the Bank of Korea has not explicitly stated it, the insufficient institutional environment appears significantly influenced by the recent discussions about institutionalizing the RON stablecoin, primarily at the National Assembly. Recently, the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee and ruling party lawmakers have been actively discussing the legislation of the RON stablecoin, and some banks and simple payment companies have already begun filing trademark applications.
The Bank of Korea has consistently maintained that if digital currency or stablecoins are to be issued, bank-based issuance would be desirable. The bank has stated that it will review resuming the test when the institutional foundation is established in the future.
