In a landmark development for the digital asset market, IQ has announced that KRWQ, the first Korean won stablecoin, has begun acquiring Korean government bonds held at Shinhan Securities. These assets are tokenized through EtherFuse’s Stablebond framework and maintained by Shinhan Securities, one of South Korea’s most prominent financial institutions. This transaction represents the first time tokenized Korean sovereign debt has been integrated into the collateral structure of a KRW-denominated stablecoin, further solidifying KRWQ’s first-mover advantage as it expands across multiple verticals.
By incorporating Korean government bonds into its on-chain reserve framework, KRWQ establishes a direct link between blockchain-based KRW liquidity and Korea’s sovereign debt market through a highly reputable institution. As the demand for stablecoin settlement increases, the need for high-quality reserve assets grows accordingly. KRWQ’s expanding role in the market aims to broaden access to the Won, potentially strengthening the national economy by attracting foreign capital into Korea’s currency and bond markets.
“We designed KRWQ to be a trusted KRW settlement asset backed by transparent, high-quality reserves,” stated Dave Shin, Chief Operating Officer of KRWQ. “Purchasing tokenized Korean government bonds issued through EtherFuse and held by Shinhan Securities strengthens the reserve profile of KRWQ and anchors it to the same sovereign instruments that underpin Korea’s capital markets.”
KRWQ was developed by IQ using Frax as its core stablecoin infrastructure partner. The stablecoin’s fees and cash flows are directed to the IQ token, providing stakeholders with an early position in the world’s first Korean won stablecoin ecosystem. Since its 2018 launch in Seoul, IQ has built a significant presence in the Korean market with listings on major exchanges like Upbit and Bithumb. KRWQ builds upon this foundation by offering a KRW-denominated asset engineered for transparency, composability, and global liquidity.
“KRWQ is the first Korean won stablecoin to hold tokenized Korean government bonds as part of its reserves,” said Navin Vethanayagam, Chief Brain of IQ. “As financial activity increasingly settles on-chain, the assets backing that liquidity matter. By integrating Korean government bonds into a blockchain-native reserve structure, we create a new, structural source of demand for Korean sovereign debt and connect it to global digital capital markets.”
The KRWQ ecosystem leverages Frax’s infrastructure, which is anchored by frxUSD and supports major tokenized U.S. Treasury strategies, including BlackRock’s BUIDL fund and Superstate’s USTB fund. While operating on this global framework, KRWQ maintains its own specific reserves of Korean government bonds.
It is important to note that Shinhan Securities is not involved in the issuance, pricing, sales, or distribution of the KRWQ stablecoin or the stablebonds issued by EtherFuse. Furthermore, Shinhan Securities does not provide guarantees or investment recommendations for these products and is not an affiliate or partner involved in the management of KRWQ. These products are not offered or sold within South Korea, and domestic investors are not permitted to subscribe or trade.
About KRWQ
KRWQ is the first fiat-backed stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the Korean won. Developed by IQ in partnership with Frax, it brings the Korean won on-chain as a secure, compliant, and scalable settlement layer. Built on proven infrastructure with a controlled mint-and-redeem framework, KRWQ is designed specifically for global markets, exchanges, and market makers.
