Kyobo Life Insurance has achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first insurer in South Korea to verify a structure for institutional fund transfers between South Korea and Japan using stablecoins with Japan's SBI Group. As reported by Kyobo Life on Thursday, the companies have completed the Korea-Japan Stablecoin-Based Cross-Border Proof-of-Concept Project, which began in July 2026 using the Canton Network test environment. The pilot successfully modeled the full cycle of institutional fund transfer, exchange and settlement processes between Japan and South Korea, demonstrating the technical feasibility of direct stablecoin-based cross-border transactions without requiring intermediate conversion through the U.S. dollar.
The pilot modeled a transaction route in which a yen-denominated stablecoin could be exchanged directly for a won-denominated stablecoin, avoiding the conventional approach that requires converting yen to dollars and then from dollars to won. According to Kyobo Life, the companies used test tokens instead of actual funds to verify the structure and confirmed the potential to shorten processing times for blockchain-based cross-border transfers and reduce costs by cutting intermediate foreign-exchange steps. The test covered the complete sequence of moving institutional funds across borders, including exchange and settlement processes, while examining how transaction information could be checked and tracked in real time. A Kyobo Life official confirmed that the pilot verified an operational model for safely handling in Korea digital assets transferred from abroad and their associated settlement payments.
The pilot ran on Canton Network, a blockchain infrastructure designed for regulated financial institutions that need configurable privacy and permission controls when exchanging assets and settlement information. According to reports, SBI Digital Practice, a unit of SBI Group, has made Canton a central part of its institutional blockchain strategy, with SBI Holdings renaming SBI Security Solutions as SBI Digital Practice in July to focus on building financial infrastructure and applications using Canton Network. A Kyobo Life official confirmed that the pilot verified an operational model for safely processing in South Korea digital assets transferred from overseas and related settlement funds, with the test showing the 'technical feasibility and efficiency' of stablecoin-based institutional transfers. The core structure eliminates the conventional approach that converts yen to dollars and then from dollars to won, adding multiple conversion and settlement stages that increase processing time, raise costs and introduce exchange-rate risk.
Building on the pilot results, both companies plan to continue working together in Web3 finance, including by linking digital-asset foreign exchange and asset management between South Korea and Japan and exploring new business models based on real transaction structures. As reported by Kyobo Life, the insurer believes the structure tested in the pilot could serve as a foundation for improving the efficiency of overseas financial transactions and strengthening the transparency of fund flows once relevant regulations and financial infrastructure are in place. A Kyobo Life official stated that "through this pilot, we confirmed the technical feasibility and efficiency of using stablecoins and blockchain for cross-border institutional fund transfers." The companies plan to expand cooperation with SBI Group and respond proactively to changes in Web3 financial infrastructure, with their relationship extending beyond the stablecoin test as SBI completed its acquisition of a stake in Kyobo Life on January 16, 2026, making the South Korean insurer an equity-method affiliate.
Real-world application of the stablecoin transfer technology hinges on regulatory groundwork, with the Digital Asset Basic Act — which would establish the legal basis for issuing and distributing won-denominated stablecoins — stalled in the National Assembly for more than a year amid disagreements over who should be permitted to issue them. According to reports, the ruling party plans to hold a public hearing later this month, and the Financial Services Commission is targeting passage of the legislation before the end of the year. South Korean financial firms have been exploring similar infrastructure, with Shinhan Asset Management and Shinhan Investment & Securities entering cooperation arrangements involving Canton to study tokenized Korean assets and access to overseas markets. South Korea remains in the process of defining a complete legal framework for won-backed stablecoins, with the Bank of Korea continuing to favor bank-led issuance while lawmakers work through disagreements over the country's digital asset legislation.
