Kakao’s Kaia to Issue KRW Stablecoin, Linking 49M Users to DeFi

Kakao plans to issue a Korean won (KRW) stablecoin on its merged Layer1 blockchain, Kaia, aiming to integrate payment, remittance, and on-chain settlement services for its 49 million monthly active users. Kaia merges Klaytn and LINE’s Finschia networks, offering low latency and gas fees. In early August, Kakao filed four trademarks—KRWGlobal, KRWGL, KRWKaia, and KaKRW—with KIPO, positioning the KRW stablecoin as a bridge to dollar and yen stablecoins. Sangmin Seo, chair of the Kaia Distributed Ledger Foundation, highlighted that users and merchants will access DeFi protocols directly within Kakao ecosystem apps. However, South Korea’s stablecoin legislation remains unsettled. The government’s Digital Asset Basic Act draft allows qualified issuers to mint KRW-pegged tokens, while the central bank favors bank-issued stablecoins and deposit tokens on public chains. Proposed bills differ on interest-bearing deposits but agree on 100% reserve requirements. Market analysts warn that a KRW stablecoin must demonstrate clear use cases beyond domestic payments, especially to reduce cross-border friction under strict FX controls. The launch timeline hinges on licensing, reserve mandates, interest rules, and banks’ roles.