[Provided by Bidax]
[Provided by Bidax]

Payments using a Korean won stablecoin will become available at self-service photo booth chain Life Four Cuts.

Bidax said Monday it signed a memorandum of understanding with digital asset payment solutions firm Zekto and LK Ventures, the operator of Life Four Cuts, to introduce a won stablecoin payment system.

The core of the agreement is a pilot program applying Bidax's won stablecoin KRW1 to the payment and settlement systems of offline stores. Consumers will be able to use a Web3 payment environment powered by the won stablecoin directly at photo booth checkout.

KRW1, which will be used in the pilot, is a won stablecoin fully collateralized in Korean won. It serves as payment and settlement infrastructure connecting on-chain transactions with the existing financial system, supporting value transfers between digital assets and traditional finance as well as real-time payments.

Zekto plans to apply a KRW1-based payment and settlement system to a real consumer payment environment. The company obtained a patent for a "stablecoin service system" covering the operational management of blockchain-based collateralized stablecoins in March, and intends to use that foundation to build a payment environment accessible to both users and merchants.

Life Four Cuts operates more than 1,000 stores in 30 countries and has more than 3.8 million monthly users. The stablecoin payment rollout is intended to reduce the currency exchange and card payment burden for foreign tourists visiting domestic stores, with plans to expand the payment system to overseas locations in the future.

"Life Four Cuts is the ideal venue to demonstrate real-life payment use cases for the won stablecoin KRW1," said Ryu Hong-yeol, chief executive of Bidax. "We will transform the offline payment ecosystem on the foundation of stablecoin infrastructure and lead the global on-chain expansion of the Korean won."

Lee Yu-jin, chief executive of Zekto, said the company would "prioritize stability and reliability to build a next-generation Web3 payment infrastructure that both users and merchants can use with confidence, and broaden the base of blockchain payments in everyday consumer life."

Lee Ho-ik, chief executive of LK Ventures, said introducing innovative digital asset payment infrastructure to Life Four Cuts "will lower the payment barrier for foreign customers and serve as an opportunity to expand the system to global stores going forward."

Meanwhile, Bidax signed an MOU with Aptos, a global layer-1 blockchain platform, in May to expand the KRW1 ecosystem. Following that agreement, the two companies plan to broaden KRW1 use cases in on-chain commerce through initiatives such as mobile gift certificate service and payment integration, as well as blockchain wallet infrastructure linkage.


kyoung@heraldcorp.com