Signal South Korea to test tokenized government bonds with CBDC in 2027

Summary

The plan was published in the Ministry of Economy and Finance's 2026 Second Half Economic Growth Strategy, giving official government backing to link tokenised government bonds with the Bank of Korea's wholesale CBDC infrastructure in 2027. The pilot will further develop Project Hangang, a Bank of Korea system combining wholesale CBDC and tokenised bank deposits on a closed distributed ledger. On July 1, BOK Governor Hyun Song Shin proposed a further step of bringing tokenised government bonds, wholesale CBDC and bank deposit tokens onto a single platform so securities and payment settlement could occur together. The Financial Services Commission said amendments recognising distributed ledgers as valid securities registries take effect February 4, 2027, timed to coincide with the bond pilot and South Korea's regulated token securities market. The Bank of Korea has also flagged risks requiring further study, warning that faster continuous settlement could transmit market stress more quickly and create vulnerabilities tied to smart contracts, liquidity management and reliance on data oracles.