As discussions on regulating won-denominated stablecoins gain momentum, the Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute (KFTC) has begun building infrastructure to verify issuers' reserve assets. The aim is to establish a system in which a third-party institution confirms whether reserve assets such as cash and government bonds are maintained in line with the actual issuance volume, in preparation for future regulation.
According to the financial industry on Monday, KFTC recently filed a patent for a system that verifies the reserve asset holdings of stablecoin issuers.
The core of the technology is to compare and verify the volume of stablecoins issued against the size of reserve assets. Stablecoins typically must hold safe assets such as cash and government and public bonds as reserves equal to the issuance volume. If reserve assets are insufficient, the risk of insolvency can increase when large-scale redemption demands arise.
The patent filed by KFTC is structured to cross-check the issuer's reserve asset information against actual holdings to confirm whether reserve assets exist in proportion to the issuance volume, and to verify whether an appropriate level is being maintained continuously. As Tether (USDT), the world's largest stablecoin, previously faced controversy over its reserve assets, the need for an independent verification system has been raised repeatedly.
The United States and Europe have already institutionalized stablecoin regulation through the GENIUS Act and MiCA, respectively. In Korea, as discussions on regulating won-denominated stablecoins proceed, establishing a system that can verify the adequacy and transparency of reserve assets is emerging as a key task.
KFTC is also accelerating the development of digital asset trading infrastructure. Last month, it registered a patent for a digital asset transfer system based on atomic swaps. The technology is characterized by guaranteeing transaction finality in the process of transferring assets between different blockchains and existing financial networks. "Future digital asset settlement processes will require a system verified by a third trusted institution," a KFTC official said. "We are preparing technological infrastructure that can secure the soundness of issuers' reserve assets and the stability of transactions."
KFTC plans to seek cooperation with the financial sector while monitoring developments in stablecoin-related laws and regulations. "Once laws and regulations are reasonably established in the second half of the year, we plan to meet with banking consortiums and others to discuss cooperation and support measures," a KFTC official said.