Now, if you ever find yourself in the land of morning calm—South Korea, mind you—you might also find yourself wondering what Governor Rhee Chang-yong of the Bank of Korea has swirling around that thoughtful head of his. Turns out, the man isn’t flat-out hostile to the notion of mintin’ a won-based stablecoin. He isn’t wild about it either, but then again, are central bankers ever wild about anything? Except, perhaps, accounting ledgers.
According to Reuters, which has a habit of sticking its finger into every global pie, Governor Rhee quipped at a press conference—likely with the same enthusiasm one reserves for a visit to the dentist—that “issuing won-based stablecoin could make it easier to swap ‘em with dollar stablecoin rather than actually pushing folks to use less of the dollar one.” Well, call me a riverboat gambler, but isn’t that just solving one problem with two new ones?
He went on, probably sighing into his necktie, admitting, “All this would goose up demand for dollar stablecoins and soon enough, we’d be chasing our forex around like a dog after its tail.” I’d wager neither Governor Rhee nor the tail stand much chance of catching the other.
You see, this all comes at a time when President Lee Jae-myung is blowing the dust off his campaign promises and actually doing something about crypto regulation—an act so rare, it might qualify as a minor miracle. Meanwhile, Korea’s foreign exchange reserves are shrinking faster than a cheap wool sweater in hot water.
To paint you a picture: by the end of December, the Bank of Korea was sitting pretty with $415.6 billion in forex reserves. By the end of May, it had slimmed down to $404.6 billion—a nosedive of $11 billion over six months. Even a gambler would call that unlucky.
Friendly regulatory environment (but mind the small print) 🤓
On June 10, President Lee’s Democratic Party lobbed the Digital Asset Basic Act onto the stage—a piece of paper that says any company with at least $368,000 rattling around can issue stablecoins. Just make sure you’ve got a fat enough piggy bank to give refunds, and get the country’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) to sign off before you go playing banker.
The FSC, not wanting to be left out, is poking around local crypto exchanges, giving them the old squint over the transaction fees. President Lee, true to campaign form, wants those fees so low even the ants have to duck. Apparently, the youth are trading madly—possibly trying to cover that forex reserve hole.
Non-US dollar-backed stablecoin (Let’s hear it for the underdogs!) 🐕
It’s no secret: US dollar-backed tokens are king of the stablecoin heap. Tether (USDT) sits at the top with a princely market cap of $156 billion, trailed by Circle’s USDC with $61 billion—numbers so large even the government might blush.
But wait, there’s hope for the non-dollar crowd yet! Circle’s euro-pegged stablecoin, EURC, is suddenly the belle of the ball, boasting a $203 million market cap—a jump of 156% since the start of the year. In crypto terms, that’s a moonshot, complete with rocket emojis. 🚀
In an unexpected plot twist, Circle’s own stock made a leap after US lawmakers winked suggestively at the stablecoin-regulation GENIUS Act in the House. Who says politics is boring?
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2025-06-20 10:00