Digitalization Warning: BOK Chief Urges Central Bank Readiness

The head of South Korea’s central bank emphasized the necessity for central banks worldwide to brace themselves for the swiftly evolving digital financial landscape, underlining the irrefutable trend of digitalization and its current presence. Speaking at a conference titled “Digital Money: Navigating a Changing Financial Landscape,” Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Rhee Chang-yong noted the rapid evolution of the digital financial realm, citing concerns about the increasing prominence of stablecoins like USDT and USDC.

Despite their name, the Governor highlighted the instability often associated with stablecoins, raising substantial worries regarding financial stability. The widespread adoption of these stablecoins, he cautioned, could diminish the importance of central bank money and potentially undermine the efficacy of monetary policies. Gov. Rhee specifically highlighted the potential challenges posed by global networks like Visa or Mastercard, especially in terms of managing capital flows and upholding monetary policy independence for countries like South Korea.

In response to these challenges, he emphasized the urgency for central banks to consider implementing central bank digital currencies (CBDC), whether in a retail or wholesale format. Introducing South Korea’s pilot project for a retail CBDC system utilizing distributed ledger technology (DLT), Gov. Rhee noted the unclear advantages of a retail CBDC compared to existing rapid payment methods, but stressed the significant potential in its programmability through smart contracts.

Highlighting the flexibility and possibilities unlocked by programmability, he noted the parallel potential for wholesale CBDCs. Additionally, Rhee disclosed ongoing efforts by the central bank, financial regulators, and the Bank for International Settlements in developing a second CBDC pilot project, focusing primarily on wholesale CBDCs and their integration with tokenized bank deposits. This project explores the issuance of tokenized e-money by banks and non-bank financial institutions, fully backed by wholesale CBDCs.

Despite these advancements, Governor Rhee acknowledged lingering issues, such as the involvement of non-depository or non-financial institutions and the establishment of appropriate regulations, indicating unresolved challenges in this transformative financial landscape.