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candidate_metadata: candidate_id: “C00951” title: “Circle Rallies Allies in Seoul: “Won Stablecoins Must Connect to USDC” — BigGo Finance” source_name: “finance.biggo.com” source_domain: “finance.biggo.com” url: “https://finance.biggo.com/news/a8df5229-4e8b-445d-92cd-400891d8ecec” canonical_url: “https://finance.biggo.com/news/a8df5229-4e8b-445d-92cd-400891d8ecec” published: “2026-07-23” collected: “2026-07-30T23:59:57Z” query: “CBDC deposit token stablecoin interoperability” snippet: “title_gate_include_and_body_term_confirmed” candidate_id: “C00951” title: “Circle Rallies Allies in Seoul: “Won Stablecoins Must Connect to USDC” — BigGo Finance” source_url: “https://finance.biggo.com/news/a8df5229-4e8b-445d-92cd-400891d8ecec” canonical_url: “https://finance.biggo.com/news/a8df5229-4e8b-445d-92cd-400891d8ecec” source_domain: “finance.biggo.com” source_type: “article” author: “BigGo Finance” published: “2026-07-23” collected: “2026-07-30” original_language: “english” registered_by: “hermes” registered_at: “2026-07-30T23:59:57Z” collector_note: “Source-success source_html; body review AUTO_RULE INCLUDE; source artifact SHA-256 67edba38bebd999c8ce2b0490bcb16380f94f291974cb56851aa58a6eed74e7e; extracted body SHA-256 3b5a80f41cfecd7f0d1d637caae6f05922e8ef27b24ce1a12a8559ca3181a39f.”
Circle Rallies Allies in Seoul: “Won Stablecoins Must Connect to USDC” — BigGo Finance
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Circle Rallies Allies in Seoul: “Won Stablecoins Must Connect to USDC” Circle, the global issuer of the USDC stablecoin, gathered its key South Korean partners to strategize its push into the market. The company held its ‘Current Seoul’ conference behind closed doors at The Westin Josun Seoul on July 23, discussing plans to expand an ecosystem connecting won-backed stablecoins with USDC. The event drew a full house of South Korean financial institutions, virtual asset service providers, payment companies, and platform operators, along with official partners of Circle’s blockchain ecosystem ‘Arc’ testnet, including Hecto Innovation, Hecto Financial, Vidax, and Kyobo Life Insurance. Ahead of the event, Yam Ki Chan, Circle’s Asia-Pacific head, distributed a report emphasizing, “While Washington, D.C. currently hosts the most heated debates around digital assets and stablecoins, Seoul is already moving toward the future, and the world is watching.” He noted that despite multiple delays in the National Assembly’s passage of the Digital Asset Framework Act, South Korea’s major financial institutions, super-apps, and centralized exchanges are continuing their efforts to build next-generation financial infrastructure. Yam pointed to Naver’s acquisition of Dunamu as a prime example. He explained that Naver fired the starting gun by announcing a deal to acquire Dunamu, South Korea’s largest crypto exchange operator, for $10.3 billion (approximately 15.2 trillion won). He also noted that in May, a consortium of major South Korean banks completed a proof-of-concept project testing the entire lifecycle of a won-based stablecoin—including a QR code payment at a Seoul cafe and a cross-border remittance to Vietnam that settled within minutes. “South Korean companies are already positioning themselves for the next inflection point,” Yam said. “They face the question: wait for regulations to be finalized, or start with pilot projects, partnerships, and infrastructure that can proceed without them? The companies moving now will be in the most advantageous position the moment regulations take effect.” Yam repeatedly stressed the strategic importance of the South Korean market. “South Korea has one of the highest rates of retail crypto participation in the world, and its banks, internet platforms, and securities firms are simultaneously building digital asset infrastructure,” he said. “At the same time, South Korea is the market that first tests the questions all export-driven economies will eventually face.” For companies concerned about regulatory risk, Circle’s APAC head offered a solution: building ‘neutral infrastructure.’ “Waiting for legislation feels safe because of the fear of investing in the wrong model,” he said. “The answer is building partner-centric, neutral infrastructure that isn’t tied to any single issuance model.” He then drove the point home: “For most financial institutions, the answer is interoperability.” Specifically, he argued that South Korea’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), deposit tokens, and bank consortium won stablecoins must connect to global dollar stablecoins like USDC. This, he reasoned, would enable seamless cross-border remittance and international settlement services. He also predicted that securities firms would need to move tokenized securities across multiple domestic and international blockchain networks, linking them to cash settlement and secondary trading markets—a capability he sees as the core competitive edge for the tokenized securities market once the revised Capital Markets Act takes effect in 2027. “When the bill passes, it likely won’t create a new market but rather institutionalize one that’s already in motion,” Yam emphasized. “Companies that have already run pilots, secured partners, and built infrastructure will be able to transition directly to commercial services after legislation.” He added that while M&A deals that change ownership structures or large-scale won stablecoin issuance licenses must await legislative and regulatory approval, firms can immediately pursue cross-border remittances, global treasury management, payment network and custody partner selection, and blockchain infrastructure decisions. Once added, BigGo Finance appears first in Google Search Top Stories, so you get the broadest, most up-to-the-minute, and most comprehensive global financial news first.