Central banks are doubling down on the intersection of digital finance and climate policy, as evidenced by a recent high-level dialogue between two of the world’s major monetary authorities. The Bank of Korea (BOK) and the Bank of France have convened a two-day seminar focused on digital assets and their complex relationship with climate change, exploring how these innovations reshape economic landscapes and redefine central bank mandates. The forum, which concluded on Wednesday, brought together researchers from both institutions alongside academic experts, as part of a long-standing exchange program that alternates between Seoul and Paris.
According to a statement from the BOK, the discussions centered on a pressing question for modern policymakers: “The two institutions will exchange views on the role of central banks and policy response directions amid recent changes in the financial environment.” This ongoing academic collaboration, which began in 2024, delved into critical topics including central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), the evolution of payment systems, emerging macroeconomic risks, and the multifaceted challenges facing financial policy in an era of digital disruption.
The Stablecoin Surge: A Catalyst for Global Regulatory Action
The seminar’s focus on digital assets is not occurring in a vacuum. It follows a period of explosive growth in stablecoins—private-sector digital currencies pegged to stable assets like the U.S. dollar—which have rapidly evolved from niche tools to significant fixtures in global finance. Industry estimates place the total market value of stablecoins at approximately $311 billion globally, a staggering increase from around $50 billion just five years ago. More tellingly perhaps, transaction volumes settled via stablecoins exceeded $34 trillion in 2025, underscoring their entrenched role in cross-border commerce and institutional settlement.
This rapid adoption has triggered a parallel wave of regulatory responses, with major jurisdictions crafting frameworks to mitigate risks to monetary sovereignty, financial stability, and consumer protection. The approaches taken by South Korea, France (representing the EU), and the United States illustrate a global trend toward formalizing oversight, albeit with regional nuances.
Regional Regulatory Strategies Take Shape
In South Korea, the central bank has adopted a cautious stance. Current policy mandates that any stablecoin pegged to the Korean won must be issued exclusively by licensed banks. This measure is designed to safeguard the effectiveness of domestic monetary policy and prevent capital flight into foreign-denominated digital assets. The BOK has indicated that comprehensive legislation to formalize this regime is expected by mid-2026.
Europe, through France’s Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR), classifies digital assets as negotiable intangible property. This categorization subjects stablecoin issuers to direct oversight and requires full licensing under the EU’s landmark Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. All issuers must comply with MiCA’s stringent reserve and transparency requirements by the deadline of June 30, 2026.
Across the Atlantic, the passage of the GENIUS Act in mid-2025 established the first comprehensive federal framework for stablecoin issuance and reserve management in the United States. This legislation has been widely seen as a catalyst, inspiring similar legislative initiatives in other countries and accelerating a global push toward more harmonized, standardized rules for digital asset oversight.
The BOK-Bank of France seminar thus serves as a critical forum for comparing these evolving models, assessing their macroeconomic implications, and considering how central banks can fulfill their mandates—from price stability to financial system resilience—in a world where private digital currencies are becoming systemically relevant.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
