The Bank of Korea could launch the second phase of Project Hangang, its wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot, as early as September, according to Yonhap News.
The next stage expands participation to nine banks from seven, introduces new payment features and tests government subsidy disbursements through tokenized bank deposits. Regional lenders Kyongnam Bank and iM Bank will join the existing group of participants.
Project Hangang uses a blockchain-based wholesale CBDC issued by the central bank as the settlement asset for deposit tokens issued by commercial banks. Consumers can then use the bank-issued tokens for everyday payments.
The first phase focused on payment infrastructure. It was conducted from April to June 2025, attracting about 81,000 participants who completed 114,880 transactions using deposit tokens.
The second phase will explore commercialization, including by adding peer-to-peer transfers, biometric authentication and automated deposit token transfers. Participating banks will also be allowed to bring merchants with which they have partnership agreements into the program.
Related: Japanese logistics company eyes JPYC stablecoin to pay drivers
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