Won, Won, Won: Korea's KRW1 Stablecoin Goes Global With Rain & Avalanche 🌏

South Korea's first won-pegged stablecoin, KRW1, is being integrated into the global payments network operated by stablecoin payments provider Rain, allowing card-based spending in Korean won at more than 175 million Visa merchant locations worldwide. The integration connects the tokenized won to card-issuance infrastructure without requiring users to convert currency before a transaction.

KRW1 was launched by South Korean digital asset custodian BDACS in partnership with Woori Bank and is pegged 1:1 to the South Korean won, with reserves held to back the circulating supply. The token is issued on Avalanche infrastructure, while Rain provides the payment layer that enables card-based usage of the stablecoin. Avalanche stated that Rain is adding KRW1 to its global payments network, giving businesses a way to use tokenized won internationally while keeping settlement denominated in Korean won.

Use cases cited for the integration include business expenses, international students, cross-border business travel and contractor payments, segments that may require access to funds outside South Korea denominated in won. The South Korean won is equivalent to nearly $3 trillion in broad money supply, but transactional activity has largely stayed within the domestic economy, and KRW1 is positioned as a digital route for extending won-based payments into broader commercial markets.

Avalanche is also being used for the UAE PASS Digital Vault project, adding to the network's footprint beyond the KRW1 issuance. Rain's card-based payment layer operates alongside the Avalanche-issued KRW1 to support the cross-border functionality described in the announcement.

No timeline for full rollout, fee structure or specific merchant availability dates was disclosed in the announcement.