Karla Barker 
The Bank of Korea has completed live cross-border payment tests using tokenized central bank reserves under Project Agora, the Bank for International Settlements initiative. The central bank joined 27 other central banks and private financial institutions in the latest round of real transaction testing. The exercise processed payments in the Korean won, U.S. dollar, euro, British pound, Swiss franc and Japanese yen. KB Kookmin, NongHyup, Shinhan, Woori and Hana Bank took part from South Korea.
The total value was about 800,000 Swiss francs across 17 payment scenarios. The number is small, but the test was less about volume and more about whether the platform could work in an environment designed to mirror real operations. The Bank of Korea said the core functions and operating processes held up. Transactions covered single and dual currency settlements between companies and banks, payment-versus-payment foreign exchange settlements, and transfers inside financial groups.
Domestic tokenized reserve test
For the domestic side, the Bank of Korea worked with NongHyup and Shinhan to move 20 million won between the two lenders using tokenized reserves. The central bank received payment instructions, then issued, transferred and redeemed the reserves on the Agora platform. A manual connection between Project Hangang, the Bank’s wholesale CBDC system, and its existing financial network was also tested. The goal was to check interoperability.
Separately, KB Kookmin became the first South Korean commercial bank to finish a deposit token payment with an overseas lender. It completed a yen settlement trial with Japan’s MUFG Bank. The bank said the results would help it prepare for later phases of Project Agora.
Project Hangang heads toward commercial use
This cross-border work builds on South Korea’s larger plan to bring Project Hangang into commercial payment infrastructure. Earlier this month, the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Internet & Security Agency launched a 9.6 billion won program. The Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute is leading it, with nine banks, payment gateway providers and large merchants testing deposit token payments for retail transactions.
The plan does not require replacing existing point-of-sale systems. Banks can issue deposit token wallets, and merchants keep their current terminals. Government agencies may also test deposit tokens for public-sector payments before connecting the technology to South Korea’s digital public finance platform.
The Bank of Korea continues to separate deposit tokens from stablecoins. Deposit tokens are commercial bank deposits issued through a wholesale CBDC structure. Stablecoins are a different kind of digital asset, backed by reserve assets under their own regulatory model.
Stablecoin rules are a separate track
Lawmakers and regulators are moving on a separate legal structure for stablecoins. The Financial Services Commission told the National Assembly it wants to combine ten digital asset proposals into one Digital Asset Basic Act. That would cover issuance, exchanges, disclosures, governance and operational resilience. There is no final draft yet, and no submission date.
A policy report from Hashed Open Research and the Solana Policy Institute suggested interim licensing guidance for won-backed stablecoins before the full law is ready. The Bank of Korea has said banks should lead any stablecoin model because of monetary policy and financial stability concerns. Ownership rules remain unresolved.
More Agora tests are expected as the project expands to payment types and scenarios not included this time. It is still early, and the final shape of the stablecoin legislation will likely decide how much room the private sector gets.