Key facts
- The Bank of Korea will launch Phase 2 of its CBDC pilot, Project Hangang, in September.
- Nine banks, including Kyongnam Bank and iM Bank, will participate in the expanded testing.
- The pilot will test live deposit token transactions with up to 500,000 users.
- New features include biometric payments, peer-to-peer transfers, and automated top-ups.
- The pilot will also test government subsidy disbursements using programmable tokens.
The Bank of Korea is set to launch the second phase of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot, Project Hangang, in September. This expansion will involve nine banks, including regional lenders Kyongnam Bank and iM Bank, alongside major financial groups like KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, and Woori Financial Group. The pilot aims to test live deposit token transactions with up to 500,000 users, laying the groundwork for potential commercialization of a digital won. New functionalities will include biometric fingerprint approvals, person-to-person wallet transfers, automatic top-ups, recurring auto-payments, and cash receipt generation. For the first time, the pilot will also test the disbursement of government subsidies using programmable tokens, allowing for spending rules to be embedded. Phase 1 of the project, which ran from April to June 2025, involved seven banks and facilitated 114,880 transactions among 81,000 participants. The Bank of Korea issues a wholesale CBDC, with commercial banks creating deposit tokens for consumer use, a model described as a middle ground between a CBDC and a stablecoin.