Summary
Circle announced two separate partnerships with Kakao Group and Toss Bank on July 23, as the USDC issuer continues its expansion in South Korea. Kakao Group — including Kakao, KakaoPay and KakaoBank — signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with Circle to collaborate on blockchain-based payment infrastructure and digital asset technology, including reviewing the commercialization of won-based digital assets and tokenized financial services. Toss and Toss Bank separately signed an MOU with Circle in the areas of blockchain-based payment infrastructure and stablecoin technology.
The Kakao partnership plans to combine Kakao Group's digital platform and financial-services ecosystem (KakaoTalk, Kakao Pay, KakaoBank) with Circle's blockchain and global payments infrastructure to identify business opportunities in payments, settlement and digital-asset-linked areas. The parties will also review global payments, overseas remittances and merchant settlement using Circle's payments infrastructure, plus technical cooperation on interoperability between blockchain networks and existing financial systems.
Toss will explore blockchain in digital wallets and payment/settlement infrastructure, including biometric-authentication-based payment experiences and stablecoin-based financial tools. Toss Bank will seek collaboration on overseas payment and settlement infrastructure using stablecoin and blockchain technology. The deals build on Circle's April agreements with Upbit and Bithumb, Korea's two largest crypto exchanges. Circle's USDC supply stood at $74.4B; rival USDT at $184.3B.
Key Facts
- Circle signed MOUs with Kakao Group (Kakao/KakaoPay/KakaoBank) and with Toss/Toss Bank, announced July 23.
- Kakao MOU: blockchain-based payment infrastructure, digital asset technology; review won-based digital assets and tokenized financial services.
- Kakao plans shared infrastructure letting domestic operators build stablecoin-based services, plus its own won-stablecoin business.
- Toss: blockchain in digital wallets and payment/settlement infra; biometric-auth payments; stablecoin-based financial tools.
- Toss Bank: overseas payment/settlement infrastructure using stablecoin and blockchain (already partnered with Solana Foundation last month).
- Builds on Circle's April deals with Upbit and Bithumb (Korea's two largest exchanges, >95% of daily trade volume).
- Circle has a prior May 2025 MOU with Hana Bank (expanded to Hana Card) for USDC cross-border remittances/treasury.
- Circle says it will NOT launch a won-pegged stablecoin; USDC plays a different role than local stablecoins.
- USDC supply $74.4B; USDT $184.3B (rival).
- KakaoBank had begun advancing its own KRW-pegged stablecoin (late 2025) — separate strategy from Circle's USDC.
Why It Matters
The partnerships embed USDC inside Korea's dominant consumer platform (Kakao) and its largest digital-bank challenger (Toss), giving Circle distribution into the country's vast cross-border remittance market where stablecoins can dramatically cut costs versus traditional wire transfers. Tether's USDT has historically held sway in Asian markets; Circle's strategy of embedding USDC within regulated financial institutions is a direct challenge to that dominance in a market where regulatory compliance matters.
The deals also crystallize Korea's emerging two-track stablecoin model: a local won-pegged stablecoin (pursued by Kakao/Toss/Hana under forthcoming Digital Asset Basic Act rules) alongside USDC as the dollar rail — complementary rather than competing, and both mediated through regulated banks rather than exchanges alone. For the wider Asia fintech picture, it shows Korea consolidating its position as a testbed for institutionally-embedded stablecoin payments, a day after the nationwide CBDC deposit-token rollout.