Won-backed stablecoins could reduce South Korean merchants' annual payment costs by 370 billion won to 5.15 trillion won if they displace part of card spending, the National Assembly Budget Office said in its September 9 "Economic Issues Analysis" report. The study, described as the first government-backed effort to quantify the potential financial-market effects of a won stablecoin, estimates savings across card fee rates of 1.1% to 1.5%, stablecoin fees of 0.1% to 0.5%, and card substitution rates of 5% to 30%. The report comes as dollar-pegged tokens dominate both global and local markets. Global stablecoin capitalization reached about $312.3 billion in July, led by Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC, while South Korean exchanges recorded about 6 trillion won in stablecoin trading in June. Dollar stablecoin balances rose even as total crypto holdings on South Korean exchanges declined in the second half of 2025. The Budget Office said lower-cost blockchain settlement could reduce merchant fees but also weaken card-company revenue and create market-stability risks. Its analysis found particularly strong volatility spillovers from stablecoins into foreign-exchange markets, warning that wider dollar stablecoin use could become a new source of financial volatility. South Korea is debating second-stage digital-asset legislation, with nine stablecoin-related bills proposing reserve segregation, authorization, external verification and capital requirements. The central unresolved issue is whether issuance should initially be confined to bank-led consortiums. The office recommended gradual reform, reserve backing, enhanced requirements for significant stablecoins and a market-stabilization framework.