Toss Bank Picks Solana to Turbocharge 15M Koreans' Remittance Game 🏦

Toss Bank, South Korea's third-largest internet-only bank serving 15 million customers, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Solana Foundation to build a cross-border remittance and settlement proof of concept on the $SOL network. The agreement marks the first direct partnership between a South Korean internet-only bank and the Solana ecosystem, and lands inside parent company Viva Republica's pre-IPO technology strategy. Toss Bank's existing overseas remittance service already reaches 30 countries and supports 7 major currencies, giving the Solana-based PoC a defined operational base from day one.

The MOU outlines four workstreams: a proof of concept for global remittance and settlement infrastructure built on Solana; joint research into blockchain-based payment and settlement models; exploration of stablecoin and digital asset financial services; and a longer-term cooperation framework covering integration with overseas banking partners and AML/KYC compliance systems. The immediate deliverable is the remittance PoC, with downstream phases covering payments, stablecoin integration, and real-world asset tokenization contingent on its results.

Jin-hyun Park, head of strategy at Toss Bank, said the partnership launches "a phased pilot within the innovative services already provided by Toss Bank," with the stated goal of delivering "quicker and more economical global digital finance through Solana" to its 15 million customers. The Solana Foundation said the collaboration will test global remittance and settlement infrastructure on the Solana network and assess the potential use of stablecoins in overseas remittances, citing the chain's faster finality and low fees as suited to high-volume, instant settlement.

The announcement comes as Viva Republica, Toss Bank's parent, moves toward a US IPO at a reported $20 billion valuation, and as South Korea tightens its digital asset regulatory framework. $SOL was trading at $74 at the time of the announcement, with 24-hour trading volume rising 8%, though concurrent US-Iran peace talk developments complicated clean attribution of that volume move to the MOU alone. The PoC phase is now underway, with the first integrations expected to focus on remittance corridors before expanding into stablecoin transfers and tokenized RWA applications.