The Financial institution of Korea has kicked off Part 2 of Venture Hangang, increasing its digital gained pilot to 9 banks and, for the primary time, utilizing CBDC-linked deposit tokens for actual authorities subsidy funds.
Abstract
- The BOK’s Venture Hangang Part 2 extends its wholesale CBDC and deposit-token pilot from seven to 9 banks and introduces stay authorities subsidy disbursement as a core check case.
- New options akin to biometric approvals, P2P pockets transfers and automated top-ups purpose to repair Part 1’s weak engagement, when solely ~80,000 of 100,000 invited customers opened wallets and quantity stayed under 700 million gained regardless of a 30–35 billion gained infrastructure spend.
- Seoul is positioning deposit tokens as an “intermediate stage between a CBDC and stablecoins,” tying the pilot to a possible 110 trillion gained subsidy circulate and future AI-powered automated funds fairly than speeding a full retail CBDC.
The Financial institution of Korea (BOK) formally launched the second section of Venture Hangang on Wednesday, its flagship initiative to construct a blockchain-based funds and settlement infrastructure utilizing wholesale central financial institution digital forex (CBDC) and industrial financial institution deposit tokens. The growth marks a pivotal step ahead for South Korea’s digital forex ambitions, broadening the mission from seven to 9 taking part industrial banks and introducing stay authorities subsidy disbursement for the primary time.
Part 2, formally dubbed “Venture Hangang Part 2,” provides Kyongnam Financial institution and iM Financial institution to the unique seven establishments — KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, Hana, NH Nonghyup, IBK Industrial, and BNK Busan Financial institution. The mission is being performed collectively with the Monetary Companies Fee and the Monetary Supervisory Service, and covers real-scenario testing of deposit tokens throughout two essential use circumstances: authorities subsidy distribution and nationwide client cost and switch providers.
Part 1 of Venture Hangang, which ran for about three months starting in April 2025, onboarded as much as 100,000 contributors and recorded 118,000 cost check transactions, validating {that a} deposit-token-based cost and settlement system might function stably in a stay atmosphere. Nonetheless, the pilot uncovered important friction: whereas 100,000 residents have been invited to take part, solely round 80,000 really opened digital wallets, and whole cost quantity reached simply 692.46 million gained — modest figures that prompted banks, which had collectively spent roughly 30–35 billion gained constructing the underlying infrastructure, to boost considerations about commercialisation viability.
The BOK has addressed these gaps immediately in Part 2. New options embrace biometric authentication through fingerprint for cost approval, direct peer-to-peer transfers between digital wallets, and an automated top-up operate that converts funds from a linked checking account into deposit tokens when a pockets steadiness runs low. The BOK framed the enhancements as significant steps towards usability parity with current digital cost techniques.
One of the crucial consequential additions in Part 2 is the mixing of presidency subsidy disbursement. South Korea’s authorities distributes huge sums by means of social welfare packages — a BOK consultant has famous that Venture Hangang is designed to reinforce fiscal effectivity by lowering misuse and reducing administrative prices related to the present system of bank cards, domestically issued vouchers, and financial institution accounts. The federal government is exploring allocating a portion of its $499 billion price range through CBDC-linked distribution infrastructure, making the subsidy pilot a check case with implications nicely past retail funds.
The BOK was cautious to border the mission’s ambitions modestly. In its announcement, it described the digital forex being examined as “an intermediate stage between a CBDC and stablecoins,” and emphasised that Venture Hangang isn’t premised on the instant introduction of a full retail CBDC, however fairly a real-transaction check of how public monetary infrastructure might operate in a digital atmosphere. For industrial banks, the BOK added, it could be “a possibility to attempt utilizing it prematurely in preparation for the opportunity of future institutionalization.”
Massive-scale follow-up actual transactions with all 9 banks are deliberate for the second half of 2026, with a acknowledged goal of lowering cost charges for small enterprise house owners and constructing monetary infrastructure related to new industries — together with AI-based automated funds. LG CNS, which constructed the underlying technical infrastructure for Part 1, stays a core techniques accomplice.
The launch comes weeks after the BOK individually printed a report in February 2026 urging regulators to limit early issuance of won-backed stablecoins to licensed industrial banks, citing cash laundering and monetary stability dangers — a stance that reinforces Seoul’s desire for a managed, bank-led path to digital forex adoption fairly than the open-access mannequin seen in another jurisdictions.