Two distinct stablecoin projects, both named KRWQ, are pulling South Korea's digital won race in different directions. TokenSquare, a South Korean AI payments infrastructure company, has launched a KRWQ stablecoin built on BSV blockchain technology in partnership with the Switzerland-based BSV Association. The initiative targets real-time payments, micropayments, and enterprise settlement. A separate KRWQ, developed by IQ and Frax Finance, is already listed on EDX Markets and is focused on institutional trading and hedging.
TokenSquare's KRWQ: Payment Infrastructure Over Trading
TokenSquare's version uses BSV's Teranode architecture, which it claims can process over one million transactions per second in AWS testing environments. CEO Oh Eun-jung described KRWQ as a won-based infrastructure for large-scale payment processing, with applications in AI payments, enterprise settlement, and digital commerce, rather than as a standalone crypto asset. The company has partnered with Korea Digital Asset (KODA) for custody and integrated KYC/AML compliance tools.
EDX Markets' KRWQ: Institutional Trading Focus
In contrast, the KRWQ on EDX Markets is designed for regulated trading and hedging of Korean won exposure. It is the first non-USD stablecoin to trade across both spot and perpetual futures markets on the platform. Executives describe it as a tool for hedging activity tied to offshore non-deliverable forward (NDF) markets, which exceed $100 billion in size.
Regulatory Uncertainty Looms
South Korea's Digital Asset Basic Act, which aims to regulate stablecoin issuance, remains stalled in the legislature. According to Andrei Grachev of DWF Labs, the Bank of Korea favors a model requiring banks to hold majority stakes in stablecoin issuers, while the Financial Services Commission (FSC) considers a more flexible approach similar to Europe's MiCA framework. Tiger Research CEO Kim Gyu-jin reported that offshore KRWQ trading had reached about 1 billion won (approximately $700,000) in daily volume, driven by foreign investors hedging Korean equity exposure.
The rapid growth of dollar-backed stablecoins — about $115 billion flowing into them in 2025 — has spurred South Korean regulators to push for a won-pegged alternative. The Bank of Korea warns that unchecked stablecoin issuance could disrupt monetary policy and foreign exchange stability, advocating for a bank-led rollout with strict oversight.
