Bank of Korea’s New Governor Vows to Push CBDC and Deposit Tokens (The Block)

Bank of Korea’s new Governor and ex-BIS Chief Economist, Hyun Song Shin, used his inauguration speech to pledge support for expanding central bank digital currency (CBDC) and bank-issued deposit tokens through the second phase of Project Hangang and cooperation with global initiatives like BIS’s Project Agora to strengthen the won’s role in digital payments, while emphasizing price stability amid external shocks. He conspicuously omitted any reference to won-pegged stablecoins even as lawmakers, backed by President Lee Jae-myung, work on a Digital Asset Basic Act to legally frame local stablecoins, and major financial firms prepare related products, with the bill’s progress delayed until after June regional elections. [The Block]

Launch of POC for digital collateral management using JGBs (JSCC)

Japan Securities Clearing Corporation (JSCC) will run a proof of concept (POC) with Mizuho, Nomura and Digital Asset to use Japanese government bonds (JGBs) as onchain collateral on the Canton Network, testing whether JGBs can be transferred and managed digitally while retaining their legal status and enabling 24/7, potentially cross-border, real-time collateral transactions under existing Japanese law. The trial, backed by Japan’s Financial Services Agency under its Payment Innovation Project, aims to inform how one of the world’s largest sovereign bond markets could support digital collateral processes without changing current legal and supervisory frameworks, and follows earlier Canton pilots with tokenized US Treasuries and parallel UK experiments with digital gilts in the Bank of England’s Digital Securities Sandbox. [JSCC]

FYI I produce a monthly digest of digital fiat currency (DFC) developments exclusively for the official sector (e.g., central banks, ministries of finance and international financial institution (e.g., the BIS, IMF, OECD, World Bank)) plus academics and firms that are active in the DFC space (commercial banks, technology providers, consultants, etc.). (DFCs include central bank digital currency (CBDC), stablecoins and tokenized deposits.) It goes out via email on the first business day of every month, and if you’re interested in being on the mailing list, please email me at john@kiffmeister.com.