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Viva Republica, the operator of South Korea-based mobile money transfer app Toss, reportedly signed a memorandum of understanding with blockchain company Optimism to test a Korean won-based stablecoin infrastructure for institutional payments.
The companies, along with privacy solutions provider Sunnyside Labs, will conduct a three-month proof of concept (PoC) using Optimism's OP Stack and Sunnyside's Privacy Boost protocol to develop a Korean won-based stablecoin and assess whether these technologies can be applied to domestic blockchain-based payment infrastructure for financial institutions, <a href="https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260708046900017" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">reported</a> Yonhap News on Wednesday.
The PoC will explore whether financial institutions can control the settlement process, the feasibility of implementing know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) verification requirements and whether transactions can remain private on a public blockchain ledger.
Toss plans to use the three-month PoC as the foundation for building compliant stablecoin-based payment infrastructure in the country, according to the report.
Cointelegraph has approached Toss for more details about the stablecoin pilot.
<img alt="" height="765" src="https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/pasted-image-1946.png" width="1171">
Toss app homepage. Source: Toss.im&nbsp;
Optimism will provide the blockchain infrastructure, while Sunnyside Labs will provide the privacy-preserving technology to shield transfers. Sunnyside is a core developer for the Optimism Collective and has been building core OP Stack infrastructure.
Seoul-headquartered Toss was launched in 2015 and claims it has more than 30 million users on its mobile application.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/kiwoom-stake-bithumb-exchange" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Kiwoom eyes Bithumb stake as Korean brokerages push into crypto: Report</a>
<h2 id="payments-giants-test-stablecoins-for-improved-settlement">Payments giants test stablecoins for improved settlement</h2>
Toss’ PoC follows similar stablecoin-based initiatives from other large financial institutions in the country.
In late April, one of South Korea’s largest credit card providers, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-korean-credit-card-giant-partners-with-solana-for-stablecoin-payments-defi-infrastructure" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Shinhan Card, teamed</a> with the Solana Foundation to test the commercial feasibility of stablecoin payments and the use of non-custodial wallets, after completing a joint pilot project earlier that month.
Shinhan Card said it hoped to eventually develop its own DeFi-linked services that implement blockchain oracles, a technology used to connect information in offchain and onchain environments.
Late last year, payments giant Visa also <a href="https://usa.visa.com/about-visa/newsroom/press-releases.releaseId.21951.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">launched</a> USD Coin (USDC) settlement services for some US-based financial institutions on the Solana blockchain in one of the more advanced examples of stablecoin projects.
Other large payment providers exploring stablecoins for improved payments and settlement include <a href="https://investor.mastercard.com/investor-news/investor-news-details/2026/Mastercard-to-Acquire-BVNK-to-Connect-On-Chain-Payments-and-Fiat-Rails/default.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Mastercard </a>and South Korea's BC Card.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/features/the-biggest-blockchain-upgrades-still-to-come-in-2026" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">The biggest blockchain upgrades still to come in 2026</a>

Mobile app Toss and blockchain Optimism to conduct Korean won stablecoin POC: report

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