Optimism-based system covers full cycle of charging, payment and settlement for digital currency
The Korea Minting and Security Printing Corp has successfully implemented a blockchain-based system covering the full cycle of charging, payment, settlement and transaction data protection as part of its preparations for a future digital payment environment.
The corporation said Friday it completed a proof of concept for a "blockchain-based public payment infrastructure" project, carried out jointly with Viva Republica — operator of the fintech platform Toss — to verify the technical feasibility of linking existing public payment infrastructure with blockchain-based CBDC.
The two organizations built a test environment for local gift vouchers, separate from any live commercial service, and used blockchain-based CBDC to top up local gift voucher tokens, then implemented the entire payment process through to merchant settlement.
The blockchain infrastructure was built on Optimism, an Ethereum layer-2 ecosystem. The test examined a structure linking CBDC transfer records on the blockchain with transaction processing in existing payment systems. Given that transaction data on public blockchains can be exposed externally, the proof of concept also verified the feasibility of a protection structure designed to prevent sensitive payment information from being exposed on the network.
Through the proof of concept, the corporation confirmed the technical feasibility of integrating blockchain-based CBDC with public payment infrastructure such as local gift vouchers. It particularly noted that by verifying not only the link with existing payment processes — from charging through payment to settlement — but also transaction data protection, the project laid the technical groundwork for applying digital payment instruments to public services.
The proof of concept focused less on the issuance of CBDC itself and more on verifying the full charging-payment-settlement process and transaction data protection when connected to actual public payment infrastructure.
"Drawing on our operational experience running public digital services such as local gift vouchers, digital Onuri gift vouchers and mobile identification, we will continue to review the relevant technologies and service models to ensure that new digital payment instruments can be safely integrated with existing infrastructure," said Seong Chang-hun, president of the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corp.
kwonhl@heraldcorp.com
