Project Hangang moves into treasury workflows and commercialization
Project Hangang has now stepped beyond pilot recap into a named treasury workflow and formal commercialization prep. Bank of Korea materials launched Phase II, tied deposit-token disbursement to an EV-charger subsidy program, and framed the next stage as groundwork for formal introduction and commercialization. The signal is expansion of a working stack, not permanent issuance or a general rollout.
Key takeaways
- • South Korea now has public proof that Project Hangang is moving from pilot credibility into public-sector workflow design and commercialization preparation.
- • That is a stronger market signal than another pilot summary, even if the end-state still remains ahead.
Trigger
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The Bank of Korea formally launched Project Hangang Phase II on March 18, followed on March 19 by an official treasury-subsidy deposit-token notice and on March 24 by ministry confirmation that the interagency MOU had been signed.
SourceSN Desk view
Project Hangang is no longer just a completed pilot. The Bank of Korea's March 18 Phase II attachment says the next stage is meant to prepare the formal introduction of the digital-currency system and the commercialization of deposit tokens. That matters because the earlier BOK results already established a live proof base rather than a paper sandbox: Phase I ran from April to June 2025, involved seven banks, opened about 81,000 wallets and converted roughly KRW 1.64 billion from deposits into tokenized deposits.
Phase II therefore reads as an expansion of a working stack, not a fresh concept release. It also broadens the bank cohort to nine and adds person-to-person transfer, biometric authentication, automatic deposit-token conversion, wider merchant acquisition, and additional programmable-payment use cases. The most important new step is the move into a named treasury workflow. The same March 18 attachment links the next stage to a blockchain-based treasury-execution pilot and identifies the climate ministry's EV charging-facility construction program as the first expected case. A March 19 government policy release then defined the pilot in operating terms: a KRW 30 billion mid-speed charger subsidy program, run through the Korea Environment Corporation, with applications in May and selections from June. The climate ministry's March 24 minister-activity page confirms that the MOU was signed with the Bank of Korea and finance authorities. The finance minister also framed a wider 2030 goal of shifting one quarter of treasury execution into digital currency. The durable conclusion is that Project Hangang has moved from pilot credibility into controlled public-sector disbursement testing and commercialization preparation. The record still stops short of proving permanent deposit-token issuance, a general public-sector rollout, named beneficiary volume, or a commercialization launch date after Phase II.