CoinDesk and the Seoul Economic Daily cited a recent Bank of Korea (BOK) study saying demand for dollar-based stablecoins such as USDT and USDC can chip away at a country’s currency when investors are able to buy them directly with local fiat on global exchanges.
How It Works: Market Makers Sell Local Currency, Buy Dollars
The BOK Issue Note (No. 2026-22, released September 3), written by researchers Kim Ji-hyun and Cho Sang-heum, lays out the mechanism in plain terms. Investors buy dollar stablecoins with local currency. Then market makers, trying to keep their books balanced, sell that local currency and purchase dollars in the foreign exchange market. Short version: stablecoin demand turns into real depreciation pressure on the currency.
Real-World Example: Brazilian Real Down 0.12%, Korea Unaffected
The study looked at Binance markets where local currencies trade directly against dollar stablecoins. In Brazil, investors were able to use the real to buy stablecoins. That created real dollar-buying pressure and pushed the real down by about 0.12% against the greenback. But in South Korea—where Binance does not list a direct won-to-stablecoin pair—there was no significant exchange-rate move.
The results match the BOK’s long-held view that won-backed stablecoins should come from banks, not external stablecoins. And the BOK governor has previously said there are plans to expand CBDC and deposit tokens.