Cocoa Bank is preparing to enter South Korea’s rapidly growing stablecoin sector, according to local reports.
In the first semi-annual revenue call on Tuesday, Kakaobank CFO Kwon Tae-Hoon said the company “actively considering” roles in both stableecoin issuing and custody, with participation in accordance with the country’s changing digital asset policies.
“We are planning to engage actively in line with market changes,” Kwon said, adding that Kakaobank’s internal task force is working with other cocoa devices to consolidate the strategy.
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The move adds a regulated online bank to the Korean Fintechs list, jumping into the StableCoin race after the Bank of Korea (BOK) shrinked its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Pilot in June.
The project, which Coindesk previously reported, had reached the test phase with commercial banks and suddenly stopped after President Lee Jae-Myung’s administration presented legislation that enabled the local issue of stablecoins.
Kwon emphasized Kocaobank’s technical readiness and noted that the company had participated in both phases of the now interrupted BOK pilot.
“We built and operated wallets and handled exchanges and transfers,” he said, pointing to operational experience that most companies in the sector cannot yet claim.
He also cited three years of compliance, which issues real-name accounts for crypto exchanges, giving the bank a lead when implementing the kind of KYC and AML framework regulators are likely to require Fiat-Pegged tokens.
Cocoa Bank is part of a weekly stablecoin-focused task force in the cocoa ecosystem that works with cocoaopay and the parent group. CEOS CHUNG SHIN-Ah (cocoa), Shin Won-Keun (cocoaopay) and Yoon Ho-young (cocoa bank) lead the initiative.
StableCOin pivot has ignited a wave of speculation and retail activity in Korea’s markets. Circle Stock, published in June, became the most purchased foreign equity among Korean retail investors.
This step takes place in parallel Hong Kong’s stableecoin plans, where local companies are running for a issuing license according to interest in People’s Bank of China’s CBDC, which could not be realized.
