Korea Crypto Market: A Guide to the Rest of 2026

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• The Bank of Korea’s CBDC has entered live-transaction testing under Project Han River Phase 2, but a won-denominated stablecoin still has no legislative basis.

• The revised STO bill has passed, but permitted assets and licensing details are left to presidential decree. The market’s direction will be set when those regulations appear, not when the bill passed.

• With the consultative council aligned on a tokenization roadmap for stocks, bonds, and money market funds, the priority is bringing proven, standardized securities on-chain rather than sourcing new fractional-investment assets.

• Hana Bank’s stake in Dunamu (6.55%, 1.0033 trillion won, about $733 million) and Mirae Asset Consulting’s stake in Korbit (97.15%, 141.4 billion won, about $103 million) point to securing infrastructure for combined STO, RWA, and stablecoin services, not fee income alone.

• Overseas tokenization pilots take six months to a year, while domestic financial institutions close their budgets in early December. Implementation should start now, not wait for the detailed rules.

The crypto ecosystem appears borderless on the surface, but in practice national borders are becoming sharper as each country establishes its own regulatory framework.