PANews reported on April 16 that, according to Newsis, the South Korean government plans to launch a pilot project to change the payment of government department operating expenses from credit cards to blockchain-based deposit tokens. The project has been selected as a 2026 planning regulatory sandbox project, "Pilot Project for Treasury Fund Execution Based on Blockchain Digital Currency," overseen by the Office for Government Policy Coordination.

This marks the second time the Ministry of Finance has attempted to apply blockchain technology to treasury fund disbursements. Previously, a pilot program was launched last month to subsidize electric vehicle charging station installation companies using deposit tokens. The current Treasury Funds Management Act stipulates that official expenses must be disbursed through government-purchased cards (credit/debit cards), limiting the use of deposit tokens. This regulatory sandbox provides a basis for verification. The government believes that using deposit tokens for official expenses allows for pre-setting usage times and industries, increasing transparency, and reducing transaction fees for small businesses through a non-intermediary settlement structure. The pilot project will initially be implemented in Sejong City, with formal implementation planned for the fourth quarter of this year.