More Than Half of Deposit Tokens Remained Unused in "Project Han River"

Over 80,000 Electronic Wallets Opened, But Transactions Remain Low
Only 690 Million Won Used for Payments Out of 1.64 Billion Won Converted
Use Limited to Seven Merchants... "Participation from Non-Bank Companies Needed"

More than half of the deposit tokens converted during the Bank of Korea’s digital currency payment experiment, known as “Project Han River,” were not actually used. Despite high interest, the lack of places to use the tokens has been highlighted as a limitation.

Ahn Do-gul, member of the Democratic Party of Korea.

According to an analysis of audit materials submitted by Ahn Dogul, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea representing Gwangju Dongnam-eul, which were provided by the Bank of Korea, 57.9% of the 1.64 billion won worth of deposit tokens converted during the project conducted between April and June this year were not used.

During this period, 81,000 electronic wallets were opened, reaching 81% of the initial recruitment cap of 100,000, confirming user interest in digital currency. The average amount converted per wallet was calculated at 20,246 won.

However, actual payments amounted to only 60,000 transactions, totaling 690 million won. The average payment per transaction was about 11,500 won. Only 42.1% of the total converted amount was used for payments, meaning that more than half remained unused.

In this experiment, the number of places where the tokens could be used was limited to just seven: Kyobo Bookstore, 7-Eleven, Ediya Coffee (about 100 stores in Busan and Incheon), six Nonghyup Hanaro Mart stores, Hyundai Home Shopping, K-POP goods mall "COSMO," and the delivery platform "Ttaenggyeoyo."

Ahn pointed out, "This demonstrates that the bank-centered digital currency conversion experiment failed to generate actual demand." He added, "For stablecoins to become established, discovering more use cases is crucial above all else," emphasizing, "Active participation from non-bank companies, such as those in the fintech and card industries, is necessary."