Blockchain gaming firm Wemade is pushing for a Korean won-based stablecoin ecosystem, forming a World Alliance for KRW Stablecoins (GAKS) with Chainalysis, CertiK and SentBe as founding companions.
Wemade introduced that the alliance will help StableNet, a devoted mainnet for Korean won-backed stablecoins, with publicly launched code and a consortium mannequin that goals to satisfy institutional and regulatory necessities.
Throughout the partnership, Chainalysis will combine menace detection and real-time monitoring, whereas CertiK will deal with node validation and safety audits.
Cash switch firm SentBe will contribute licensed remittance infrastructure throughout 174 nations. This permits the KRW stablecoin initiative to function inside South Korea’s regulated digital asset ecosystem.
The launch marks a coordinated effort from Wemade to reposition itself as a long-term infrastructure builder after years of setbacks, together with token delistings and a bridge hack that undermined investor confidence.
Wemade’s rocky highway and stablecoin pivot
Wemade’s push into stablecoin infrastructure follows a turbulent seven-year growth from a standard gaming studio into considered one of South Korea’s most formidable blockchain builders.
The corporate launched its blockchain division in 2018 and expanded it from a four-employee workforce right into a 200-person operation. Nonetheless, the speedy development collided with the nation’s evolving regulatory panorama, forcing the corporate to restrict its play-to-earn (P2E) choices to abroad markets.
A lot of the strain confronted by Wemade centered on its native WEMIX token. In 2022, South Korean exchanges delisted the asset, citing discrepancies between its reported and precise provide. This resulted in a worth drop of over 70% for the token.
The token suffered one other main blow in 2024, when a bridge exploit resulted in 9 billion gained (about $6 million) in losses. The corporate’s delayed disclosure attracted scrutiny and eroded additional investor belief, resulting in a second wave of token delistings.
The stablecoin pivot marks one other try from Wemade to reset the narrative across the firm and reposition its know-how towards a extra compliant and infrastructure-focused use case.
In a Korea Instances report, the corporate mentioned that it’s creating a KRW-focused stablecoin mainnet whereas avoiding turning into the stablecoin issuer itself. It’s positioning itself as a know-how companion and consortium builder for different South Korean corporations.
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South Korea’s post-Terra regulatory panorama
The Terra collapse in 2022 continues to solid a shadow over South Korea’s digital asset coverage, leaving lawmakers and regulators significantly delicate to dangers related to stablecoins.
The Monetary Companies Fee (FSC) and the Financial institution of Korea (BOK) have taken uncompromising stances since 2022, pushing for stricter liquidity, oversight and disclosure guidelines as they work on an upcoming stablecoin framework targeted on risk-cointainment.
The central financial institution additionally advocated giving banks a number one position in stablecoin issuance, serving to to mitigate dangers to monetary and international trade stability.
The BOK warned that permitting non-banking establishments to take the lead in stablecoin issuance might undermine current rules.
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