Injective and BDACS plan South Korean won stablecoin for RWA settlement

Injective signed a memorandum of understanding with BDACS, a South Korean digital asset custodian, to bring a won-backed stablecoin named KRW1 to its tokenized asset markets. Under the agreement, KRW1 would serve as the exclusive won-denominated settlement asset for real-world assets on Injective, letting institutions settle transactions without relying on US dollar stablecoins.

Cointelegraph reported that BDACS says KRW1 is fully backed by Korean won reserves, and that minting and redemption would initially be limited to approved institutional partners, subject to regulatory approval. Markets Insider carried the same announcement through FinanceWire, adding that Korea's five major exchanges posted 18 straight months of net stablecoin outflows to offshore platforms since January 2025, totaling about 14.9 trillion won or roughly $10.4 billion.

Injective co-founder Eric Chen said a Korean won settlement layer onchain is an important step for tokenized finance in Korea. BDACS CEO Harry Ryoo said demand in tokenized markets will remain anchored to dollar stablecoins without onchain won infrastructure, and that the collaboration will expand step by step as Korea's regulatory framework develops. BDACS holds more than 80 billion won in assets under custody and is a registered virtual asset service provider with the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit.

The MOU arrives as South Korea develops rules for won-backed stablecoins under a proposed Digital Asset Basic Act, which the government aims to finalize by the end of 2026. A July policy report from Hashed Open Research and the Solana Policy Institute called for greater flexibility in stablecoin issuance while the legislation is being written. Without a KRW settlement asset, tokenized products on Korean-facing platforms are typically priced and settled in USD stablecoins, which adds FX exposure for institutions.

Injective has processed more than $7.5 billion in real-world asset volume and has issued more than $1 billion in tokenized assets, according to the announcement. POSCO International and LG CNS selected Injective earlier in 2026 for trade receivables issuance and settlement. No launch date for KRW1 on Injective has been set. BDACS is separately involved in Circle's Arc rollout in Korea, which is distinct from this MOU and should not be conflated with KRW1.

KRW1 first launched in September 2025 on Avalanche with Woori Bank holding won reserves in escrow, and later expanded to Circle's Arc blockchain. The Injective MOU is therefore not a new token launch but a distribution and settlement partnership for an existing instrument. BDACS reported more than 80 billion won in custody assets in the first half of 2026 and holds SOC 1, ISO 27001 and ISMS certifications.

Dollar-backed stablecoins account for more than 98% of global stablecoin market capitalization, which leaves non-dollar economies without a local settlement asset for onchain markets. For Korean institutions, that means FX exposure on every tokenized trade settled in USD. The Injective partnership is designed to remove that step for RWA markets on the network, letting tokenized assets clear directly in won through KRW1.

Injective's institutional track record includes POSCO International and LG CNS selecting the network for trade receivables issuance and settlement earlier in 2026. Injective Institutional Services became an SEC-registered transfer agent in August. The company has said the KRW1 integration will be implemented across its onchain markets with further updates as specific use cases go live, without committing to a calendar. The Digital Asset Basic Act remains unfinished, so institutional minting of KRW1 for Injective settlement still depends on how Korea finalizes stablecoin rules by year end.

Four Pillars operates an institutional validator on Injective, which gives the Korean research and infrastructure firm a direct economic interest in network activity. Bringing KRW-settled RWA markets onto the network would increase onchain volume that validators capture through fees. That alignment is part of why the partnership was announced as an MOU with joint development rather than a simple listing.

Pineapple Financial tokenized more than $1 billion in mortgage records on Injective earlier in 2026, which is a separate RWA vertical from Korean won settlement. Together, the mortgage, trade receivables and now KRW settlement work point to a strategy of stacking institutional use cases rather than pursuing retail DeFi volume. KRW1's institutional-only minting gate fits that posture.