Hashed unveils Layer 1 concept for upcoming South Korean stablecoin economy

Hashed Open Finance, a subsidiary of crypto venture capital firm Hashed, has unveiled a litepaper for Maroo, a new Layer 1 blockchain tailored to the Korean won (KRW) economy.

Maroo is designed as a sovereign blockchain that combines the openness of public blockchains with regulatory compliance features essential for financial applications, such as auditability and privacy protections. Transaction fees would be paid in KRW stablecoins to promote user onboarding and mitigate volatility.

According to its press release, current public blockchain infrastructure, such as Ethereum, prioritizes anonymity, which makes it challenging to impose anti-money laundering and know-your-customer measures at the network level. The transparency of such networks also risks exposure of personal and corporate data to the public.

Compliance-focused

To address these compliance issues, Maroo incorporates a “dual track” system that allows both an “open path” for unrestricted wallet creation and transactions, and a “regulated path” that imposes identity verification or limits based on transaction size.

Maroo also features a Programmable Compliance Layer (PCL) that automates checks for transfer limits and sanctions during transactions, with the ability to update as regulations change. It also includes a Verifiable Privacy framework that enables selective data disclosure for oversight when required by legal processes.

Additionally, Maroo blockchain is built with future AI integration in mind, including tools to authenticate AI agents, manage their permissions and spending limits, and revoke access if needed.

“Stablecoins are emerging as a key pillar of financial infrastructure in the global market,” said Simon Kim, CEO of Hashed. “Maroo is an experiment that pursues global-standard technological openness while respecting Korea’s regulatory environment. We hope it will serve as a foundation for banks, financial institutions, and fintech companies to explore next-generation financial services together.”

Hashed Open Finance said it seeks to collaborate with regulators, financial institutions, research organizations, and tech startups to build digital infrastructure for the Korean economy on Maroo.

Hashed, founded in 2017, is a web3 venture capital firm specializing in investments and research in global startups and decentralized protocols. As Hashed’s fintech arm, Hashed Open Finance aims to advance Korea’s financial innovation and global competitiveness through stablecoins, RWA tokenization, security token offerings, and broader blockchain applications.

KRW stablecoin

The company’s latest endeavors align with local legislative efforts to establish a KRW-pegged stablecoin market as a measure to protect and strengthen the country’s monetary sovereignty against the growing dollar stablecoin market.

Rules on local stablecoins are expected to be included in South Korea’s Digital Asset Basic Act, the second set of comprehensive crypto regulations currently in development. The bill is expected to be finalized within the first quarter of this year.

Major financial and payment institutions in South Korea, including KB, Naver, and Kakao, have been preparing for the forthcoming KRW stablecoin market, launching related wallet products and submitting stablecoin technology patent applications.

However, there’s still an ongoing debate on the eligibility of stablecoin issuance. While the Bank of Korea and the Financial Services Commission have reportedly agreed that issuance would be centered on a consortium consisting of licensed banks, lawmakers from the ruling party criticize that this bank-focused structure would stifle innovation.

In a related development, South Korea’s national legislature recently passed a bill that establishes a legal framework for security token offerings, opening up a pathway for regulated blockchain-based issuance and trading of tokenized securities in the country.