Multiple Korean press reports claim that the Bank of Korea is pausing its wholesale CBDC and tokenized deposit project, Project Han River, following pushback from participating banks. The seven banks involved in the experiments are simultaneously planning to issue stablecoins as part of a consortium, taking advantage of new government plans to allow broader stablecoin issuance. The six original Han River participants are KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, NH NongHyup, and Industrial Bank of Korea.
The first phase of tokenized deposit trials finished today, involving experiments with 100,000 people using tokenized deposits for consumers and wholesale CBDC for bank settlements. The project was scheduled to roll into a second phase later this year, but discussions about the next round of tests have been temporarily halted. There has been no formal announcement by the central bank, but commercial banks were informed of the delay on June 26.
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