South Korea Beats the Quantum Threat to Stablecoins With New Pilot Program

BTQ Technologies has been chosen as the core post-quantum security provider for South Korea’s first bank-led Korean won (KRW) stablecoin proof-of-concept. The company will deploy its Quantum Secure Stablecoin Settlement Network across iM Bank’s pilot infrastructure.

The Vancouver-listed firm is working with iM Bank and local technology vendor Finger Inc. to embed quantum-resilient cryptography into a regulated KRW stablecoin issued on the Kaia mainnet, the Layer 1 network formed from the Klaytn and Finschia merger.

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BTQ disclosed the deployment on Wednesday, framing the project as more than a technical pilot.

The proof-of-concept will test real-time reconciliation between bank reserves and on-chain supply, a standardized smart contract design, and connectivity for overseas distribution.

BTQ is also providing strategic advisory support across the three-way partnership with iM Bank and Finger.

The architecture pairs existing ECDSA cryptography with NIST-aligned post-quantum signatures such as ML-DSA, letting iM Bank maintain operational continuity while preparing for future quantum threats.

Post-quantum migration requires more than a cryptographic upgrade. It requires coordination across infrastructure, implementation, and institutional stakeholders,” read an excerpt in the announcement, citing Newton, BTQ’s chief executive officer.

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Building on Kaia connects the pilot to two of Asia’s largest digital platforms, the Klaytn lineage from Kakao and the Finschia lineage from LINE.

Klaytn previously joined the Bank of Korea’s CBDC pilot through Project Hangang.

The launch arrives as eight Korean banks advance plans for a joint venture to issue a KRW stablecoin, signaling a competitive build-out of regulated digital won infrastructure ahead of expected legislation.

“There is a shared sense of crisis that if things continue this way, foreign dollar coins could dominate the domestic market. It is time to secure independence and competitiveness of the domestic financial system at the same time through a Won-based digital currency,” a banking industry official stated.

Quantum Threat Moves From Policy Debate to Banking Pilot

BTQ has previously listed Danal and Finger as early QSSN participants in Korea. The iM Bank engagement suggests domestic financial institutions are treating the harvest-now-decrypt-later risk as actionable rather than theoretical.

QSSN was previously cited in the US Post-Quantum Financial Infrastructure Framework as a model design for stablecoin issuance and admin keys.

Whether the pilot progresses to commercial issuance under QuINSA guidelines will likely shape Korea’s broader migration timeline.