South Korean lawmaker urges won-linked token as $250B in dollar-backed tokens spread

South Korea’s Democratic Party lawmaker Min Byung-duk is calling for an accelerated launch of a won-denominated stablecoin, warning that dollar-pegged tokens are rapidly colonizing the country’s digital payments infrastructure. Speaking July 15 at a Seoul seminar titled “US Digital-Asset Hegemony Strategy and South Korea’s Response,” Min said a native won stablecoin is essential to preserving financial sovereignty as the U.S. integrates digital assets into its core economic pipelines.

Min pointed to the U.S. GENIUS Act, a stablecoin regulatory framework set to take effect Jan. 18, 2027, as a trigger. “More than 200 stablecoins are known to be in preparation,” he said. “At least dozens will win approval and pour into the global market.” He argued that if South Korea has the technology but lags on rules, or if demand exists without supporting infrastructure, opportunities will move offshore. The country needs institutional reforms now, he added.

The global stablecoin market has already surpassed $300 billion, Min noted. Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC alone account for over $250 billion in digital-dollar supply. That flood of dollar-backed tokens is laying a permanent payments network for the digital economy, Min said. “Once a payments market is lost, it is difficult to regain it.”

Min made the remarks after a fact-finding trip to Washington, D.C., and New York last month with fellow lawmakers Park Min-kyu and Kang Min-guk. The delegation met with U.S. Congress, White House officials, regulators, exchanges, custodians, and stablecoin issuers. Min described the U.S. strategy as a “digital expansion of the financial order” that ties payments, Treasury markets, capital markets, custody, cross-border settlement, and industrial policy into one infrastructure.

He said South Korea needs a won stablecoin to connect with that dollar-based digital order while protecting its own payment, settlement, data, and industrial foundations. A realistic response, he argued, depends on accurately reading the U.S. digital-asset strategy.

The seminar was organized to discuss the outlook for digital-asset legislation in the second half of 2026. Min and Park both attended. The immediate watch item: Whether South Korea’s National Assembly moves to fast-track won stablecoin legislation before the GENIUS Act opens the U.S. stablecoin floodgates in early 2027.