South Korean Central Bank Unveils New ‘Cryptoassets Department’

South Korea’s Central Bank has announced it will reorganize its structure to include a “cryptoassets department” as a wave of public sector stablecoin-related activity continues to build momentum.

The South Korean media outlet News1 reported that the Bank of Korea (BOK) has established a new division named the “Cryptoasset Department.”

The BOK also announced that its Digital Currency Research Lab, which operates within its Financial Settlement Bureau, will be renamed the Digital Currency Lab on July 31. News1 explained:

“This appears to be an attempt to emphasize its status as a business unit.”

The bank added that it has also reorganized the roles of the teams that make up the lab, and will assign staffers to test token usability.

The BOK said its Cryptoasset Team Department would operate within its Financial Settlement Bureau.

This division, it said, will be responsible for monitoring the crypto market. Its remit will also include Korean won-pegged stablecoins and legislative matters.

The media outlet wrote that experts have interpreted the reshuffle as an “attempt to better respond to recent discussions on stablecoin issuance, while continuing work on its central bank digital currency (CBDC).”

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The BOK recently hit the pause button on its CBDC rollout plans, seemingly in direct response to the government’s stablecoin legalization plans.

The bank seems to believe that CBDC-based deposit tokens are no different from bank-supported KRW stablecoins.

The BOK Governor Rhee Chang-yong said last year that deposit tokens are essentially “stablecoins issued by banks.” Rhee said earlier this month:

“No matter if we are talking about a won stablecoin or a deposit token, we will need a digital currency in the future. We will carefully consider whether it is better to gradually move forward with a focus on the banking sector or to expand this to the wider private sector.”

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The bank’s move comes just hours after the nation’s two biggest political parties rolled out stablecoin regulation bills.

Both bills propose giving the Financial Services Committee sweeping regulatory powers over the stablecoin industry.

Critics think this will significantly diminish the role of the BOK. And the BOK has previously hit out at private sector stablecoin adoption plans.

It claims that KRW-pegged coins could undermine Seoul’s ability to conduct effective monetary policy.

Some of the country’s biggest tech firms have already registered KRW stablecoin-themed trademarks in anticipation of a green light from Seoul.

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