'Deposit tokens' based on the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) issued by the Bank of Korea are set to enter unlimited real-transaction testing as early as September, taking a major step toward full-scale commercialization. In particular, starting from this second phase, a demonstration will also be conducted to structurally block the fraudulent receipt of government subsidies using blockchain technology.

According to the Bank of Korea on the 20th, the BOK and nine commercial banks (the previous seven plus Kyongnam Bank and iM Bank) are making final preparations for the Phase 2 real-transaction test of 'Project Hangang.' Deposit tokens are digital deposits issued by commercial banks based on the BOK's wholesale CBDC and used by the general public for actual payments.

Unlike the first phase, which had a three-month limit, this second phase will proceed virtually 'indefinitely' within the maximum limit of the financial regulation sandbox (four years). Peer-to-peer (P2P) remittance, biometric authentication, and automatic deposit and withdrawal functions will be added, and the scope of use will be widely expanded to general merchants that have signed business agreements (MOUs) with participating banks.

The most notable sector is the 'treasury fund demonstration.' The government plans to preemptively introduce deposit tokens for the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment's electric vehicle charging facility subsidies and public-sector operational expenses. Because blockchain-based deposit tokens allow 'usage' and 'expiration dates' to be pre-programmed into the currency itself, they can systematically and fundamentally block uses outside the designated purpose or the skimming of subsidies (fraudulent reception).

The BOK stated its policy to firmly solidify the foundation for commercialization starting from the second phase, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance has also announced plans to promote a government bond tokenization demonstration project linked with CBDC next year, signaling that a major structural change in the national payment settlement system is imminent.