Kakao Group's Stablecoin Task Force Prepares KakaoTalk Gift as Payment Use Case

Kakao Group's stablecoin task force has been confirmed to be preparing KakaoTalk Gift as a major use case for won-denominated stablecoin payments, according to etnews.com. The move points to the group's gift-giving service as a possible entry point for digital asset payments.

The task force brings together Kakao, KakaoBank and KakaoPay. It plans to connect payments to frequently used services once legal and regulatory issues are resolved.

KakaoTalk Gift is a large-scale service: it handles about 190 million gifts per year, averaging about 540,000 per day, and covers some 8,700 brands and 640,000 product types. Those figures make it a candidate for high-volume payment traffic.

The task force said no specifics have been decided regarding linking stablecoin payments to KakaoTalk Gift. That leaves the scope, timing and structure of any integration unresolved.

Earlier groundwork

In earlier work, the task force said it had entered a stage of securing stablecoin issuance and distribution technology and verifying the possibility of real service application, disclosing remittance and payment via digital asset wallets and payment and settlement for foreigners in Korea. It also proposed forming an open cooperative body with financial institutions, platforms and e-commerce companies to develop use cases.