Summary
No specific commercial rollout timeline or pilot cities have been announced for the K-STAR digital local currency. The PoC (completed July 6, 2026) validated technical feasibility — 100% transaction success rate, sub-1-second settlement under all load scenarios. The consortium stated the technology could support government subsidies, digital vouchers, CBDCs, and won stablecoin services. AhnLab Blockchain Company recently obtained a VASP license in Korea (one of 28 approved as of June 30). The PoC follows KB Financial Group's won stablecoin PoC (May 2026 on Kaia/OpenAsset) and Shinhan Card's Solana stablecoin pilot (April 2026).
Key Points
- No commercial rollout date or pilot cities announced yet
- PoC completed July 6, 2026 — technical validation phase
- Performance: 100% success rate, sub-1-second settlement across 4 scenarios (normal, congested, peak, mixed irregular)
- Programmable money features: merchant-restricted spending, auto-expiry, category-based settlement rules
- AhnLab Blockchain Company: obtained VASP license (one of 28 in Korea as of June 30)
- KB Financial Group won stablecoin PoC: May 2026 on Kaia + OpenAsset (retail payments, merchant settlement, cross-border remittances)
- Shinhan Card + Solana Foundation stablecoin pilot: April 2026 (non-custodial wallets, retail payments)
- President Lee Jae-myung pledged (June 29) to allow companies to issue won-backed stablecoins
- Digital Asset Basic Act framework under development — will determine regulatory path for commercial rollout