South Korean fintech big KakaoPay crashed 17% on June 27 as buying and selling resumed after the Korea Trade suspended the inventory for the second time in every week resulting from rising skepticism about won-pegged stablecoin.
In response to Bloomberg, the trade designated Kakaopay as an “funding danger” resulting from excessive volatility, however the underlying trigger runs a lot deeper than easy market mechanics.
Over the previous month, shares had tripled in worth as markets wager closely on South Korea’s evolving digital asset rules, which created a possibility window for established fee corporations.

The dramatic selloff resulted from the rising pressure between market enthusiasm for stablecoin alternatives and mounting regulatory issues concerning the dangers to monetary stability.
Stablecoin Fever Grips Korean Markets
The thrill started earlier this month when South Korea’s Democratic Social gathering proposed laws that may enable native corporations to difficulty won-pegged stablecoins.
South Korea’s Democratic Social gathering launches a Digital Asset Committee, aiming to place crypto regulation underneath the subsequent president’s management.#southkorea #regulationhttps://t.co/p8xJDmqFoZ
— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) Might 13, 2025
Kakaopay lately filed 18 trademark purposes associated to digital foreign money providers. The submitting created widespread hypothesis that the corporate was positioning itself to develop into a significant participant in South Korea’s anticipated won-pegged stablecoin market.
The corporate joins a rising checklist of Korean monetary establishments racing to safe stablecoin-related mental property, together with KB Kookmin Financial institution, Hana Financial institution, and internet-only Kakao Financial institution.
This broader crypto-linked inventory rally swept throughout a number of corporations, with KakaoBank touching three-year highs earlier than regulatory warnings triggered sharp reversals.
Even recreation developer Nexus joined the push, registering a won-based stablecoin known as “KRWx” on the Binance blockchain whereas submitting corresponding trademark purposes.
Nonetheless, Thursday’s sharp correction has halted the development, and corporations are actually taking their steps cautiously.
Regulatory Actuality Verify Decreases Optimism
Financial institution of Korea Governor Lee Chang-yong dampened investor enthusiasm by warning concerning the dangers related to won-pegged stablecoins.
The Financial institution of Korea, South Korea’s central financial institution, remains to be lukewarm on proposals to launch a received stablecoin regardless of a latest assembly with the USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle.#SouthKorea #Stablecoins #USDChttps://t.co/qPwbqgvtFg
— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) June 19, 2025
The central financial institution governor warned that home stablecoins might paradoxically improve demand for dollar-denominated options, complicating international trade operations.
The Financial institution for Worldwide Settlements individually questioned whether or not stablecoins can really substitute conventional cash, calling their future position “unclear” regardless of the fast progress of the sector.
South Korea’s regulators are usually not remoted from these challenges. It’s a international pressure that policymakers worldwide are grappling with, as they’re actively exploring methods to create a sustainable oversight framework for stablecoins.
Whereas Hong Kong lately handed complete stablecoin laws and the U.S. Senate accredited the GENIUS Act, implementation challenges and cross-border coordination stay important hurdles.
But institutional adoption continues accelerating regardless of regulatory uncertainty, with Chainlink lately partnering with Mastercard to carry stablecoin infrastructure to over 3 billion customers globally.
@Shopify launches USDC stablecoin funds for tens of millions of retailers throughout 34 international locations via @coinbase and @stripe, providing sub-penny transaction charges as crypto goes mainstream.#Base #Stripe #Shopifyhttps://t.co/MwBphsiZ2y
— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) June 13, 2025
Shopify has additionally lately built-in with Coinbase Funds, enabling tens of millions of retailers to just accept stablecoins immediately. In the meantime, tech giants like Meta are additionally reportedly exploring the mixing of stablecoins on their platforms.
The publish Kakaopay Inventory Plunges 17% as Korean Trade Suspends Buying and selling Over Stablecoin Publicity appeared first on Cryptonews.