[PRESS RELEASE – SEOUL, South Korea, May 7th, 2026]
Korea’s first won-denominated public blockchain goes stay with built-in regulatory compliance and native AI agent id, integrating with Mannequin Context Protocol (MCP), Claude abilities, Gemini CLI, and Cursor. The underlying know-how already powers BDAN Pocket, a digital pockets utilized by 4 million residents of Busan.
Hashed Open Finance, the fintech subsidiary of world Web3 enterprise capital agency Hashed, as we speak launched the general public testnet for Maroo, the primary sovereign Layer 1 blockchain constructed for Korea’s KRW stablecoin economic system.
With the worldwide stablecoin market virtually completely denominated in U.S. {dollars}, Maroo affords Korean banks, fintechs, and AI brokers native infrastructure to transact in won-denominated digital property. The know-how underpinning Maroo already powers BDAN Pocket, a digital pockets utilized by 4 million residents of Busan in partnership with the Busan Digital Asset Alternate (BDAN).
The Maroo testnet is now open to exterior builders, banks, fintechs, and AI builders. The launch positions Korea among the many first international locations to design a public blockchain round its personal foreign money reasonably than the U.S. greenback.
Maroo was designed from the outset with regulatory compliance, auditability, and verifiable privateness embedded in its core, permitting banks and fintechs to launch real-world companies on Maroo whereas preserving the openness of a public chain. The chain operates on a dual-track mannequin: an “Open Path” out there to anybody, and a “Regulated Path” for transactions that require prior verification. Each paths share the identical chain, permitting Maroo to check whether or not on a regular basis customers and controlled monetary companies can coexist on a single infrastructure.
Slightly than counting on after-the-fact opinions, Maroo enforces compliance as code for the time being a transaction is made. Its Programmable Compliance Layer (PCL) presently covers 5 core insurance policies: KYC verification, switch limits, blacklist filtering, time-based quantity caps, and AI agent transactions. Any non-compliant transaction is blocked on-chain immediately. Coverage units may be up to date by way of a separate pipeline, permitting the community to adapt to new legal guidelines and repair insurance policies with out redesigning the core protocol.
To arrange for a future the place AI brokers actively take part in monetary transactions, the testnet additionally introduces the Maroo Agent Pockets Stack (MAWS). Constructed on the ERC-8004 customary, MAWS assigns every AI agent a singular on-chain id. Brokers can execute transactions autonomously, however solely inside user-defined permissions and limits. MAWS integrates seamlessly with main AI developer instruments, together with the Mannequin Context Protocol (MCP), Claude abilities, Gemini CLI, and Cursor. To stability autonomy with consumer management, customers can immediately revoke permissions if irregular conduct is detected.
On the testnet, transaction charges are paid in OKRW, a KRW-denominated check token, permitting customers to take part within the community with out holding unstable crypto. Past technical testing, Maroo affords sensible situation demos that showcase real-world utility, together with KYC integration with Kakao, Korea’s main messaging platform. Hashed Open Finance plans to introduce extra superior privateness options, together with a Shielded Pool, in its subsequent milestone later this yr, with a mainnet launch to comply with rigorous safety audits.
“On this testnet, we’ve translated the core design from our January litepaper right into a stay community atmosphere,” stated Hojin Kim, CEO of Hashed Open Finance. “A framework the place AI brokers maintain distinctive on-chain identities and autonomously execute monetary transactions inside user-defined guidelines shall be a significant milestone for the way forward for blockchain-based finance.”
“Stablecoins aren’t simply one other monetary product — they’re the infrastructure that can outline what a nation’s foreign money appears like within the digital age,” stated Simon Kim, CEO of Hashed. “Proper now, that infrastructure is being constructed virtually completely on high of the greenback. Maroo is a uncommon likelihood for Korea to design its personal digital monetary order on the inspiration of the received. Our aim is to make it an open platform the place anybody — banks, monetary establishments, fintechs, and the brand new sorts of gamers that can emerge within the AI period — can are available and experiment with the subsequent technology of finance.”
Begin constructing on Maroo as we speak. The testnet is totally open to the general public. Builders can entry full documentation and start constructing instantly at [docs.maroo.io], with the RPC endpoint out there at rpc-testnet.maroo.io and on-chain exercise viewable by way of the block explorer at [explorer-testnet.maroo.io]. AI builders can deploy AI agent wallets by way of [agent.maroo.io]. Finish customers can strive compliant KRW stablecoin transactions on the demo portal [experience.maroo.io], with KYC out there at [kyc-testnet.maroo.io]. Banks, fintechs, and monetary establishments considering piloting Maroo for manufacturing companies or partnership alternatives are invited to contact Hashed Open Finance at [[email protected]].
About Hashed
Hashed companions with the founders shaping the subsequent paradigm in blockchain, AI, and content material, becoming a member of them from the earliest moments as know-how redraws the boundaries of industries. Headquartered in Seoul and working from 5 international hubs throughout San Francisco, Singapore, Bangkok, Bangalore, and Abu Dhabi, Hashed offers the capital, networks, and on-the-ground execution that assist founders transfer past a single area and attain significant scale in international markets.
About Hashed Open Finance
Hashed Open Finance is the fintech subsidiary of Hashed, established to steer Korea’s subsequent technology of monetary innovation, beginning with stablecoins. The agency works with established monetary establishments and international companions to analysis, develop, and commercialize blockchain-based purposes throughout stablecoins, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, and safety token choices (STOs).
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