Digital Assets Usher in Era of AI Payments

Amid forecasts that stablecoins will become the core foundation for AI agent payments, the possibility of South Korea leading the digital asset market was raised. This suggests discussions have taken place about stablecoins playing a role in facilitating payments as artificial intelligence (AI) purchases goods or uses services.

These discussions emerged at the 'Future of Digital Assets and Capital Markets: Choices for the US and Korea' policy symposium held on the 23rd at Hashed Lounge in Gangnam, Seoul. Lawyer Lee Jung-yeop predicted that stablecoins would serve as the 'ledger' for AI agent payments.

Assemblyman Min Byung-duk emphasized that South Korea could lead the global market in digital assets, surpassing its influence in K-culture. Assemblyman Ahn Do-geol, in his keynote address, expressed his commitment to passing the Digital Asset Basic Act, currently pending in the National Assembly, in the latter half of this year, stating that the Democratic Party has finalized the consolidation of related bills.

Kim Esther, an investment principal at Hashed Open Research, proposed stablecoins, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, and security token offerings (STO) as key elements to secure a golden time for South Korea to emerge as a digital asset hub.