Bank of Korea Scales Up CBDC Pilot With Half a Million Users
South Korea’s Bank of Korea is expanding Project Hangang, its CBDC-related pilot, from September with nine banks and up to 500,000 users. The first phase drew 81,000 wallet signups but only 42% spent any tokens, despite 114,880 transactions across seven banks and 12,000 merchants. Phase 2 is meant to make the system feel more like normal banking, adding biometric login, person-to-person transfers, auto top-ups, recurring payments, receipts, and interest. The pilot will also test programmable government subsidy payments, with spending rules that can limit funds by vendor, purpose, and time window. The structure uses a wholesale CBDC for bank settlement, while commercial banks issue deposit tokens for consumer payments. Supporters say this could cut merchant card fees and speed benefit delivery; critics warn programmable money can enable broader spending controls and financial surveillance.
