디지털 화폐의 대전환: 혁신과 신뢰 사이에서 길을 잃은 금융의 미래 > K-wave Trends

The virtual asset market is now showing full-fledged moves to go beyond the stage of mere speculative assets and be incorporated into institutional finance. Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party's attempt to establish a legal basis for allowing virtual asset exchange-traded funds (ETFs) suggests that virtual assets are being recognized as a class of asset, following the United States and Hong Kong. However, bearish signals based on technical analysis are being detected within the market, and asset sales movements by large investment companies are raising alarm among investors. In particular, experts point out that as virtual assets enter a stage where they are compared to traditional financial assets, they inevitably receive harsh evaluations in terms of stability and rate of return rather than explosive growth like in the past.

The spread of stablecoins is attracting attention as a powerful tool to maximize payment efficiency, but the side effects and risks that come with it are also significant. Central banks around the world, including the Bank of Korea, are emphasizing the need for central bank digital currency (CBDC), pointing out the limitations of stablecoins in their unity, elasticity, and integrity. Stablecoins issued by private companies have a fatal weakness in that they are difficult to handle the shock of sudden fund withdrawals or problems with the reliability of the issuer's reserve assets. Accordingly, a hybrid model that can accommodate private innovation while maintaining the central bank's monetary sovereignty to ensure the stability of the payment system is emerging as a realistic alternative.

‘Project Han River’, which is being promoted by the Bank of Korea, is a representative example that reflects the needs of the times and is an attempt to digitize the payment infrastructure by combining institutional CBDC and deposit tokens. The existing sequential batch settlement method suffered from payment delays and non-payment risks, but the strategy is to reorganize this into an immediate payment environment through tokenized infrastructure. However, in this process, the so-called ‘triple dilemma’ arises where the three values ​​of payment efficiency, credit supply, and personal information protection conflict with each other. Transparent tracking of transaction data is necessary for efficient credit supply, but this can soon lead to controversy over infringement of individual privacy, so it is very important to find a policy balance.

The development of artificial intelligence technology is rapidly shifting the paradigm of financial services to ‘AI agent commerce.’ We are now entering an era where humans are excluded from the payment process and AI makes its own decisions to move assets and purchase goods. In order to respond to these changes, not only technical infrastructure but also legal and institutional measures to support them must be urgently established. In particular, it is essential to make efforts to clarify the legal status of won-based stablecoins, systematize relationships between data through ontology projects that utilize this, and build a knowledge map that machines can understand. This is a time when a national strategy is needed that goes beyond growth dependent on the semiconductor industry and combines physical AI and manufacturing innovation.

Public awareness of digital finance is still sharply divided, and the misunderstandings and rumors that arise during this process sometimes become obstacles to technology acceptance. The recent case of some influencers being caught up in groundless accusations of advocating CBDC reflects public anxiety that digital currency will lead to state surveillance and control of personal assets. Technology is neutral, but the strength of social consensus varies depending on how the technology is used. Therefore, the government and financial authorities must strive to increase policy transparency and create an inclusive financial environment so that the digitally vulnerable are not left out. Only when the speed of technological development keeps pace with the recovery of people's livelihoods will we be able to gain the public's trust.