Imagine next year’s Lunar New Year, when red envelopes are replaced by digital money.
Only when a payment system can be used without explanation — by children and seniors, migrants and small merchants alike — does a stablecoin truly become everyday money.
There is a familiar scene every Lunar New Year.
Grandparents give cash to their grandchildren; some give it to nieces and nephews. The children receive money they can use immediately.
But what about next year?
Will those red envelopes be replaced by digital money?
And a more important question follows: Will children actually be able to use that digital New Year’s money?
Under many of the stablecoin models currently being discussed in Korea, this is not a trivial question. If using digital money presumes access to an exchange account or a specialized wallet, minors are excluded from the outset. Even if a stablecoin law is passed, money that can be received but not spent can hardly be called everyday money.
In Korea, debates about stablecoins are often accompanied by two persistent misconceptions. One is that stablecoins are merely tools to fuel crypto speculation. The other is that they are instruments for big tech firms or specific ecosystems to monopolize payments. Both views stem from a failure to clearly define what role stablecoins should play as a public payment institution and infrastructure.
A Korean won-denominated stablecoin should not be a vehicle for investment or speculation. It should be a payments infrastructure. It should not entrench monopoly power, but instead be designed as an open network. Blockchain technology has already moved beyond experimentation, functioning as a payment layer that enables near-instant, low-cost value transfer across borders and time zones. Within this structure, stablecoins serve as the connective tissue between bank accounts and blockchain networks.
The changes that a won-based stablecoin should enable are concrete.
First, micro-payments and high-frequency transactions must be settled in real time.
Second, small merchants and cross-border sellers should be freed from high fees and delayed settlement cycles.
Third, remittances — especially for migrant workers — should operate 24/7, unconstrained by borders or holidays.
Fourth, in the public sector, purpose-based and conditional payments should enhance administrative efficiency and transparency.
This is the core point.
A won-denominated stablecoin is an infrastructure that accelerates the digital circulation of the Korean won and reduces friction in payments, thereby raising productivity across the entire economy.
So the question must be asked again: Who are stablecoins for?
They cannot be designed only for those who already enjoy full access to financial infrastructure. They must establish a default payment layer that children and seniors, migrants and small merchants alike can use without explanation.
If a grandmother cannot send digital New Year’s money to her grandchild — and have that money actually work in daily life — then the technology has not yet arrived in the real economy.
This is where the discussion on stablecoins must begin again.
Helena Oh (Eun Jung Oh) is the CEO of TokenSquare. The views expressed here are the writer’s own. — Ed.
