The Bank of Korea is set to launch the second phase of its CBDC pilot project, Project Hangang, in September, expanding participation from seven to nine banks. The upgrade aims to advance the use of wholesale CBDC backed by distributed ledger technology for commercial bank deposit tokens.
Expansion and Technical Enhancements
This next stage will add Kyongnam and iM Bank to the initial group of seven banks, which includes KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, NH Nonghyup, IBK Industrial Bank of Korea, and Busan Bank. All banks are finalizing preparations for live deposit token transactions, which could begin as soon as September if development and onboarding complete on schedule.
The pilot focuses on wholesale CBDC infrastructure where the Bank of Korea issues the underlying settlement layer, enabling commercial banks to offer digital deposit tokens. Unlike retail CBDCs distributed directly to consumers, these tokens represent traditional bank deposits settled through blockchain technology.
Increased User Capacity and Transaction Limits
The expanded pilot will allow peer-to-peer wallet transfers and significantly raise wallet limits. Individual wallet balances will increase from 1 million won to 10 million won, with cumulative holding limits rising from 5 million won to 100 million won. User capacity is expected to grow from about 100,000 in the first phase to up to 500,000 participants.
The initial phase, conducted from April to June 2025, focused on payment infrastructure and engaged roughly 81,000 users who completed 114,880 deposit token transactions. It also involved onboarding leading merchants from various sectors.
The Bank of Korea’s second phase will prioritize steps toward commercialization, aiming to facilitate broader adoption of CBDC-based deposit tokens across the banking sector.
