South Korea's Central Bank Begins Recruiting Cryptocurrency Experts and Plans to Launch Digital Won Pilot Payments in the First Half of 2026

Golden Finance reports that on March 26, the Bank of Korea announced the recruitment of 10 new employees, with some positions requiring at least five years of experience in the crypto industry. The earliest candidates could start as digital asset market analysts as early as July this year, responsible for researching the impact of cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and tokenized assets on financial stability.
The recruitment coincides with the resumption of the CBDC project Han River initiative, which was halted last year due to user feedback about inconvenience during the pilot phase. The new plan shifts focus toward government and enterprise use cases: the authorities aim to distribute 25% of government subsidies via digital won by 2030 and plan to launch a pilot payment in the first half of 2026. The head of the digital currency planning team at the Bank of Korea stated that stablecoins and CBDCs are not in competition but complement each other. This deployment, along with upcoming legislation, will lift the long-standing ban on domestic issuance of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins in South Korea.