Binance-Gopax deal under scrutiny as Korean lawmakers press for investor protection

GroundX to Bring NFT Activities to 2023 Seoul Light Hangang Bitseom FestivalGroundX, the blockchain subsidiary of South Korean conglomerate Kakao, said Tuesday that it will host NFT-related activities at Seoul’s largest laser art festival, the 2023 Seoul Light Hangang Bitseom Festival, from October 6 to 15 in collaboration with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and other affiliates like LG Uplus and the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture.Photo by Wes Hicks on UnsplashMerging physical activity, learning, and artThe activities will fall under the theme of “3L”: Light Run, Laser Art, and Lecture. Light Run is a four-kilometer running course scheduled for October 6 and 14, for which GroundX will mint NFT certificates for participants who complete the course. The NFTs will contain information about the participant, as well as the date of the event and a record of completion. They will then automatically be sent to and stored in the participant’s Klip wallet, GroundX’s digital wallet service, and can be accessed at any time on the Klip app and KakaoTalk Wallet.GroundX said that it will also showcase digital artworks by eight artists, including Kim Duk-ki, Han Seung-ku, and Berry Kim. These works will be displayed on LED platforms installed at the Banpo and Ichon Hangang Parks.Kim Tae-keun, Head of Business at GroundX, is set to participate as a lecturer for the Bitseom Lecture segment on October 8, where he will discuss NFT art and the company’s vision for the media art industry. Bitseom Lecture is an outdoor art convergence lecture program that introduces immersive media artworks and technology in virtual reality (VR) and extended reality (XR).Bringing the NFT experience to Seoul“We hope that citizens visiting the Bitseom Festival will be able to get the real NFT experience through our media art displays, lectures, and running course completion certificates,” GroundX said. “We will continue to collaborate with various organizations and create NFT use cases through participation in offline festivals and events.”

South Korea is moving closer to the global stablecoin trend as public curiosity and real-world trials accelerate, even as the country’s central bank signals it wants tight guardrails. A recent analysis from Shinhan Card, reported by Money Today, finds that internet searches for “stablecoin” in South Korea jumped 403% in the first half of this year compared with the previous six months, based on data from major portals such as Google and Naver. Mentions on social media rose 359% over the same period. The spike reflects growing expectations that U.S. dollar-pegged tokens could make cross-border payments faster and cheaper by enabling near-instant settlement at prevailing foreign-exchange rates. Interest has been reinforced by user reviews of actual payment experiences, which climbed between May and July. Crypto-linked cards, including RedotPay and Bybit’s offerings, are already usable domestically and allow top-ups with leading stablecoins such as USDT and USDC. One user described buying a cup of coffee at a local shop with a RedotPay card via Apple Pay. The small purchase underscores how crypto rails are edging into routine spending.Photo by Oat Appleseed on UnsplashFrom curiosity to checkoutTrading venues remain the main arena. According to CryptoQuant, transactions in USDT and USDC on the country’s five leading exchanges totaled nearly $71 billion from January through August, underscoring stablecoins’ central role in crypto liquidity and price discovery. Stablecoin interest in Korea shows a skew toward younger users and men, with men making up 74% of related searches and women 26%. By age, people in their 20s–40s accounted for 66% of searches, while those aged 50 and above represented 34%. Public debate is widening alongside adoption, with some online commenters predicting that stablecoins could chip away at the influence of traditional card networks. At the same time, banks, card companies, and exchanges are bracing for the arrival of a won-pegged counterpart, as the government and parliament prepare a regulatory framework and aim to introduce a bill as early as this month. Domestic card issuers, drawing on their merchant networks and settlement systems, are already exploring how to integrate won-backed tokens in ways that maximize convenience and scalability. Adoption meets skepticismSkeptics counter that Korea’s existing payments infrastructure is already world-class, leaving only marginal gains for a won stablecoin. They also argue that cross-border benefits would be modest because the won lacks reserve-currency status and broad global demand. The Bank of Korea (BOK) has struck a notably conservative tone. Governor Rhee Chang-yong has previously questioned the benefits of a won-denominated stablecoin and warned of risks to the monetary system. Earlier this month, in documents submitted to a lawmaker and reported by The Herald Business, the BOK advised that parliament consider granting it authority to require issuers to deposit reserves at the central bank when necessary. According to the bank, such a measure would strengthen user protection during heavy redemptions, curb money-supply growth outside its control, and ensure that any seigniorage benefits flow to the public. That approach could reduce issuer profits, since deposits at the BOK would not earn interest, just as is the case for commercial banks. The documents also recommend sizing reserves to match the total stablecoin supply, while clarifying that not all of it would necessarily need to be held at the central bank. Issuance path and next stepsAs for who should issue a won-pegged token, the BOK favors starting with a consortium of banks, citing their track record on compliance and the need for a controlled pilot that lets regulators assess and mitigate risks before widening access. The developments suggest a country exploring how stablecoins might integrate into an already sophisticated payments network. Consumers are showing interest, exchanges are handling large flows, and regulators are shaping the legal framework that will define the place of any future won-based digital currency. 

British multinational banking conglomerate Standard Chartered has partnered with global crypto exchange OKX in Dubai on a collateral mirroring pilot program.Photo by appshunter.io on UnsplashOff-chain collateralIn a press release published on April 10, the companies set out details of the collaboration. The initiative will facilitate institutional clients to utilize digital assets and tokenized money market funds for trading as off-chain collateral. Trading activity requires the ongoing movement of funds and assets between custodians and exchange platforms. The activity is expensive and slow. Back in 2023, OKX had collaborated with crypto custodian Komainu and asset manager CoinShares to enable collateral mirroring to overcome this operational inefficiency. In that instance, CoinShares was enabled to trade on OKX using a collateral mirroring facility provided by OKX with Komainu acting as asset custodian. This latest initiative has also seen OKX work with alternative investment management firm Brevan Howard, global investment management company Franklin Templeton and local regulator in Dubai, the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA).  Developed within regulatory frameworkThe collateral mirroring facility has been established on a pilot program basis to start with, having been developed within the regulatory framework established in Dubai by VARA. Standard Chartered will act as the digital asset custodian as part of the arrangement.  The press release points out that Standard Chartered is a Globally Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB), asserting that this will afford clients a higher level of security. By not having to manually move the digital assets, there is an additional security-related process improvement, given the ongoing risks associated with digital assets held on exchanges due to incidents of hacking. Hong Fang, OKX president, provided some insight into why the company has partnered with Standard Chartered, stating:”By leveraging Standard Chartered's position as a top custodian globally, as well as OKX's market leadership in cryptocurrency trading, the partnership sets an industry standard for current and potential institutional clients to deploy trading capital at scale in a trusted environment." OKX CEO Star Xu outlined on X that the service offering is geared towards tokenized money market funds with the aim of improving capital efficiency and counterparty risk protection. Standard Chartered launched its crypto custody services in Dubai last September. The service was established in partnership with Brevan Howard Digital, having been licensed by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), the independent regulator for financial service providers located within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), an economic free zone. In October 2024, OKX selected Standard Chartered as its digital asset custodian for the crypto exchange platform’s institutional clients. First clientsBrevan Howard Digital and Franklin Templeton will participate as the first clients to trial the new service offering. Furthermore, as part of the collaboration, OKX platform users will gain access to tokenized on-chain assets developed and offered by Franklin Templeton. Franklin Templeton’s head of digital assets, Roger Bayston, commented on the firm’s on-chain product offering, stating: “By ensuring assets are minted on-chain, we enable true ownership, allowing them to move and settle at blockchain speed – eliminating the need for traditional infrastructure.”