Bank of Korea to launch CBDC pilot phase in September

The Bank of Korea is preparing to launch the second phase of its central bank digital currency pilot, Project Hangang, with live transaction testing for deposit tokens expected to begin in September. The expanded pilot will involve nine commercial banks and could include up to 500,000 participants, marking a significant step toward potential commercialization of the technology.

According to officials, the central bank and participating institutions are finalizing system preparations and participant recruitment. If development proceeds on schedule, live trading will commence next month and continue on an open-ended basis. The second phase adds Kyongnam Bank and iM Bank to the initial group of seven, which includes KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, NH Nonghyup, IBK Industrial Bank of Korea, and Busan Bank.

Project Hangan focuses on a wholesale CBDC infrastructure, where the central bank issues a digital currency used to settle transactions involving deposit tokens issued by commercial banks. These tokens represent regular bank deposits but are transferred using distributed ledger technology. A Bank of Korea official confirmed the central bank will provide the institutional CBDC...