South Korea has recently seen multiple “revenge intermediary” organizations that use cryptocurrency as a payment method. They offer intimidation and murder services via Telegram. Even though the main culprit has been arrested, related advertisements are still being posted. Police are investigating more than 50 cases and have arrested about 30 people.

A Bank of Korea central bank governor candidate, Shin Hyun Song, said that a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and deposit tokens issued by commercial banks should be the core of the digital currency ecosystem. He supports a Korean won stablecoin, but emphasized that maintaining monetary trust comes first. He suggested issuing stablecoins through a bank-led consortium, which could later be expanded to non-bank institutions, while also carefully assessing the stablecoin’s regulatory compliance.

The Bank of Korea has proposed introducing a “circuit breaker mechanism” into the crypto asset market to address market volatility and risk, and believes that existing regulatory measures are insufficient to deal with potential issues in the crypto market. The context for this proposal is a recent system malfunction incident at a certain exchange.

North Korean hackers’ attacks against the cryptocurrency industry continue to escalate, becoming an important source of funding for maintaining their military budget. Experts say that, unlike hackers from other countries, North Korea relies more heavily on crypto theft; its tactics have evolved into precision takeover—long-term infiltration that is difficult to effectively defend against—posing a serious threat to the industry.

Since January 1, 2026, CertiK Alert has recorded 163 blockchain security incidents, with total losses of about $796.7 million. Of these, 12 were related to North Korean hacker organizations, with losses of about $329 million, accounting for 42% of total losses. Compared with the 60% share in 2025, it has declined.

The Democratic Party of Korea plans to regulate tokenized real-world assets and stablecoins in the soon-to-be enacted “Framework Act on Digital Assets.” The proposal would require issuers to deposit assets with a trustee-managed trust institution, and classify stablecoins as a means of payment, subject to oversight by foreign exchange regulators. The bill bans earnings from idle stablecoins and calls for the development of interoperable technical standards, aiming to improve market transparency and safety. This marks an important step forward for South Korea’s digital asset regulation.

In 2026, the Korean crypto market will see significant changes, with USD Coin trading activity surging, reflecting growing demand for dollar-pegged stablecoins. Circle’s CEO will visit South Korea to discuss stablecoin use cases and partnerships with multiple banks. At the same time, South Korean regulators are strengthening stablecoin legislation, laying the groundwork for the digital asset market.

The Financial Services Commission of Korea requires all domestic cryptocurrency exchanges to reconcile accounts every 5 minutes to address internal control vulnerabilities exposed by recent payment incidents. The new regulations include establishing automated reconciliation systems, setting standards for when trading must be paused, and strengthening reviews of high-risk processes, with the goal of improving asset security.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire plans to visit South Korea in April to meet with executives from multiple banks and exchanges to discuss USDC use cases, international payments cooperation, and its KRW stablecoin plans, with the goal of expanding USDC’s use in the Korean market.

The Bank of Korea and France’s foreign exchange bank held a seminar in South Korea on digital assets and climate-related issues, discussing the impact of central bank digital currency and stablecoins on the financial system. During the meeting, countries discussed how to balance financial innovation and regulation, showing the global emphasis on collaborative research in digital finance.