Bank of Korea stablecoin pilot sees only 42% usage rate

In a stablecoin project led by the Bank of Korea (BOK) with seven commercial banks, the actual amount spent by participants was less than half of the total funds deposited, the Korea Economic Daily reported. The BOK's central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot, known as "Project Han River," saw a total of 1.64 billion won (around $1.19 million) converted into deposit tokens. Of this amount, only 690 million won ($500,000), or 42.1%, was actually used for payments. Participants in the project converted fiat currency into deposit tokens via their banking apps to purchase items like coffee or pay for food deliveries using QR codes at affiliated stores. The low usage rate was attributed to the banks' payment systems, which were not as developed as those of fintech firms like KakaoPay and Toss, making it difficult to expand the network of participating merchants.