South Korea’s biggest crypto exchange is distancing itself from the Open USD project. Upbit says it isn’t participating in the issuance of the new stablecoin — it only expressed potential willingness to consider joining the OpenStandard ecosystem down the road.
The clarification comes after Open Standard announced its dollar-backed stablecoin on Tuesday, claiming over 140 businesses had “signed up to use” it. That list included Upbit’s operator Dunamu, plus heavyweights like Visa, Mastercard, BlackRock, Google, and Samsung Electronics.
Turns out, a lot of those names weren’t exactly on board. Samsung said it had no formal discussions with the project and didn’t know what role it was expected to play. Shinhan Financial Group and KBank similarly said they’d only indicated they’d consider it.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire questioned the sustainability of offering free, unlimited minting and redemption. ARK Invest’s Lorenzo Valente called the announcement a “giant letter of intent”.
South Korea hasn’t passed its Digital Asset Basic Act yet, leaving big questions about who can issue stablecoins. Lawmakers are debating whether to limit issuance to banks or open it up. Until that’s settled, don’t expect South Korean firms to make firm commitments.
