#ProjectHangang
3 articles tagged #ProjectHangang — curated RWA tokenization coverage.
South Korea eyes September launch for second phase of CBDC pilot: Report
The Bank of Korea is preparing to launch the second phase of its Project Hangang wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot as early as September. This expansion increases the number of participating financial institutions from seven to nine, with the addition of regional lenders Kyongnam Bank and iM Bank. The pilot utilizes a blockchain-based wholesale CBDC as the primary settlement asset for deposit tokens issued by commercial banks. Building on the first phase, which saw 81,000 participants complete over 114,000 transactions, the new stage focuses on commercialization and practical utility. Key features being tested include government subsidy disbursements, peer-to-peer transfers, and biometric authentication. By integrating merchant partnerships, the project aims to bridge the gap between institutional blockchain infrastructure and everyday consumer payments. This development is significant for the RWA market as it demonstrates a sovereign-led framework for tokenized bank deposits, setting a precedent for how national currencies can be digitized for scalable, real-world financial applications.
Korea’s unified ledger paper is silent on privacy. Central banks should take note
The Bank of Korea has released a detailed paper on Project Hangang, a unified ledger initiative designed to integrate tokenized commercial bank deposits with a wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC). While the project aims to maintain the traditional two-tier monetary system, the report notably omits any discussion regarding privacy protections for retail and interbank transactions. This oversight is significant because the platform centralizes retail payments, wholesale settlement, and programmability under a single central bank-operated infrastructure. The initiative has already completed a Phase I trial involving 80,000 users and 12,000 merchants, with Phase II expanding to nine commercial banks later this month. The South Korean government maintains an ambitious goal to utilize this tokenized framework to distribute 25% of National Treasury Funds by 2030. The absence of privacy discourse in such a comprehensive design document raises concerns about data partitioning and the central bank's visibility into private transaction flows. For the broader RWA market, this highlights the ongoing tension between central bank oversight and the necessity of data confidentiality in tokenized financial systems. Addressing these privacy gaps remains essential for ensuring commercial bank participation and public trust in sovereign-backed digital ledgers.
BOK’s Shin Says Tokenization Era Is Coming for Bank Deposits, Government Bonds
The Bank of Korea (BOK) is advancing plans to tokenize government bonds and commercial bank deposits on a unified ledger system to modernize financial infrastructure. Governor Hyun Song Shin presented findings from Project Hangang, which successfully demonstrated the stable operation of a unified ledger for central bank money and asset trading. By embedding transaction conditions directly into tokenized assets, the BOK aims to automate bond settlement and collateral management, moving away from current T+1 settlement cycles. This initiative represents a significant shift toward programmable "smart money" that executes transactions only when specific criteria are met. Furthermore, the BOK intends to integrate this system with Project Agora to streamline cross-border securities trading and foreign exchange. By enabling simultaneous ownership transfer and payment, the bank seeks to reduce settlement times and costs for international investors. This development underscores a global trend among central banks to leverage blockchain technology for enhanced monetary policy execution and financial stability.