Hana Bank, Hana Card and Tether sign three-way MOU to explore domestic financial service links

Hana Financial expands digital asset ecosystem spanning custody, payments and remittances

[Hana Card]
[Hana Card]

Hana Card has partnered with Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer. Following a partnership with Circle, the issuer of USDC, last year, Hana Card has now extended its reach to Tether, the issuer of USDT, as it works to connect global stablecoins with domestic financial services.

Hana Card announced Thursday that it had signed a three-way MOU with Hana Bank and Tether to explore ways to link global stablecoins with South Korea's financial services industry. The agreement focuses on jointly examining the potential domestic use of stablecoins rather than launching specific services in the near term.

USDT, issued by Tether, and USDC, issued by Circle, are the two leading dollar-pegged stablecoins. According to CoinGecko, USDT had a market capitalization of approximately $183.8 billion as of Thursday, while USDC stood at around $74 billion. USDT ranks first among all stablecoins globally by market capitalization, with USDC in second place.

Hana Card signed a strategic MOU with Circle in December last year. In March this year, it also ran a stablecoin-linked marketing campaign with Crypto.com that offered cashback to foreign visitors making purchases at domestic merchants.

Hana Financial Group's broader digital asset push is also gaining momentum. BitGo Korea, a joint venture with global digital asset custodian BitGo, completed its registration as a virtual asset service provider with the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit on Sept. 18. The approval gives the firm a foundation to pursue institutional and corporate digital asset custody services.

Alongside this, Hana Financial is broadening its scope — from payments partnerships with global stablecoin issuers to overseas remittances using Dunamu's Kaia Chain and the buildout of security token offering infrastructure. The group plans to expand its ties further with both domestic and international stablecoin issuers and digital asset infrastructure firms.


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