Injective targets won-denominated asset settlement through partnership for 100%-backed stablecoin
Key Facts
Injective announced a partnership with BDACS aimed at enabling tokenized real-world assets to be traded and settled directly in South Korean won using the KRW1 stablecoin. The network said in its announcement that settlement would take place "directly in South Korean won, without going through the dollar," putting the local currency at the heart of the settlement process for these assets. The issuer says the stablecoin is 100% backed by won, with collateral held in an escrow account at Woori Bank. BDACS announced the stablecoin's issuance on September 18, 2025, with the new partnership forming part of its rollout for use in tokenized assets. Injective's announcement stipulated that making minting and redemption available to approved institutional partners remains subject to regulatory approval.
KRW1 began with a proof-of-concept issuance limited to technical validation, according to BDACS's launch statement. The company described that issuance as "not intended for public trading," with the initial trial confined to testing the technology. The stablecoin's website now describes its status as commercial issuance and distribution available only to selected institutions. Those institutions must pass know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering checks to be accepted, according to the website. This progression, from technical validation to restricted commercial distribution, puts approved institutions at the forefront of those able to use the stablecoin under its current availability terms.
For its cross-chain transfer infrastructure, BDACS chose LayerZero's Omnichain Fungible Token standard to make KRW1 interoperable. The company said the design aims to maintain a unified supply of the stablecoin across all connected networks. It described the intended outcome as "one supply of KRW1 across every connected network, rather than separate versions competing for liquidity." For foreign-exchange settlement, the company demonstrated a swap between KRW1 and USDC in a test environment. It said the demonstration showed the technical feasibility of on-chain foreign-exchange settlement, as part of its efforts to develop uses for the stablecoin in currency swaps.
The partnership joins other asset-tokenization projects on Injective, including a trial in which POSCO International and LG CNS selected the network to tokenize real trade receivables arising from international trade. In a mortgage-related project, Injective said the number of Pineapple records on the network rose to 2,079 in its September 2026 report. That compares with 1,259 records at the project's launch in December 2025, according to the network. Among asset-issuance tools, the Injective Mint platform allows issuers to impose restrictions on asset holders and the jurisdictions in which transactions can take place. It also allows administrative permissions to be assigned, among tools supporting the operating requirements of institutional markets.
Alongside its tokenized-asset applications, BDACS announced a collaboration with Rain to enable purchases using cards backed by KRW1. According to the company's announcement, BDACS handles stablecoin issuance and custody, while Rain manages card issuance and settlement through the Visa network. Other initiatives for won-related infrastructure include an agreement in which MoonPay Korea announced the signing of a banking memorandum of understanding with Woori Bank. In the broader monetary context, Reuters reported in April 2026 that Shin Hyun-song, then a nominee for governor of the Bank of Korea, supported the possibility of different forms of digital money coexisting. He said: "I expect central bank digital currencies and deposit tokens to be able to coexist with stablecoins."
In its next step in foreign-exchange services, BDACS plans to expand KRW1-based services, according to its statement on its collaboration with Circle. The company intends to use the capabilities of Circle's StableFX platform to carry out this expansion. In its partnership with Injective, it aims to make minting available to approved institutional partners. The announced plan also includes enabling those partners to redeem the stablecoin, under the terms set out in the network's announcement. Access to both operations remains subject to obtaining regulatory approval.