KakaoBank begins building its own blockchain infrastructure… to develop 'Kakao Chain'

KakaoBank has begun building and developing its own blockchain infrastructure in line with the group's stablecoin strategy, accelerating the expansion of its on-chain financial business.

According to industry sources on the 26th, KakaoBank recently started hiring developers to handle the backend of its blockchain services. The job posting listed on-chain functionality, smart contract development, full node operation, and token standard design as key tasks, leading to interpretations that the move is aimed at laying the groundwork to implement on-chain finance overall, including stablecoins and tokenized securities.

It has been reported that the resolution of judicial risks for Kakao founder Kim Beom-su served as an important factor in this turning point. Last month, Kim was acquitted in the first trial on charges of violating the Capital Markets Act, alleviating concerns about his suitability as a major shareholder. With the possibility of sanctions in the financial authorities' semiannual review disappearing, evaluations say the uncertainty around KakaoBank's new business initiatives has also significantly decreased.

In August this year, the Kakao Group launched a Korean won stablecoin task force (TF) centered on Kakao, KakaoBank, and Kakao Pay, formalizing discussions on building an on-chain financial system such as digital payments, settlement, and tokenization. As the three group leaders have served as joint TF heads and held weekly meetings, it is classified as a strategic project in which the founder directly sets direction.

KakaoBank is also strengthening its foundation in the STO (tokenized securities) field. Through cooperation with Korea Investment & Securities and LucentBlock, it is developing blockchain-based financial products and systems, and appears to be pursuing development aimed at securities digitization using distributed ledgers and an automated issuance and distribution system based on smart contracts.

Industry sources view this hiring as a sign that KakaoBank's blockchain strategy has moved beyond the planning stage into actual development. It is seen as a strategy to build its own infrastructure linked to the group's stablecoin ecosystem and combine it with financial services such as payments, deposits, and loans.

A KakaoBank official explained, "This recruitment is a staffing step to examine the financial applicability of blockchain and stablecoin technologies, and we plan to gradually broaden the scope during the initial technical review process."