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South Korea eyes September launch for second phase of CBDC pilot: Report

20 July 2026 · By · Wire by Fusion42

◆ Published

20 July 2026

◆ Topic

technology

◆ Sectors

Fintech

◆ Geography

South Korea

◆ Source

Read at lcx.com →

◆ Verified

Fusion42 · 20 July 2026 · Fusion42 review

South Korea's central bank is expanding its wholesale CBDC pilot (Project Hangang) to a second phase launching September 2026, adding nine banks, peer-to-peer transfers, biometric authentication, and government subsidy disbursement tests via tokenized deposits.

This Wire brief sits within Fusion42's coverage of Fintech. Wire is Fusion42's founder-focused intelligence feed: each story is connected to the funds and startups it names — every one with a live profile on Raise or Scout — so founders can follow the capital and the momentum behind the headline rather than just the headline itself. Wire analysis is one of the live surfaces Arthur reasons over.

◆ The Wire takeaway

If you build payment rails, settlement infrastructure or custody for banks, South Korea just opened a test bed that runs at scale - nine banks moving real money on a central bank asset means you now have a live customer who needs to integrate with you. The move from infrastructure testing to commercial features (P2P, biometric, government disbursement) means the feature set is real and the integration budget is allocated.

◆ Related on Wire

◆ Topics

Fintech · cbdc · wholesale-payments · tokenized-deposits · central-bank-digital-currency · settlement-rails