Hashed Moves to Build Korean Won-linked Stablecoin Platform

Hashed Open Finance Unveils ‘Maroo’ Plan
CEO Seo jun Kim: ‘Exploring Next-Gen Financial Services’

By Hoon-Gil Choi

Hashed, a global Web3 venture-capital firm, is moving to develop a fintech services platform built around a Korean won-linked stablecoin, as the company looks to position stablecoins as a new layer of domestic financial infrastructure.

Seo-jun Kim, CEO and Partner at Hashed

Hashed‘s affiliate Hashed Open Finance on Jan. 22 unveiled plans for “Maroo,” a blockchain designed to let users pay network fees in a won stablecoin — a structure the firm says could lower the barrier to entry by allowing people to use blockchain-based services without holding other digital assets. As the ecosystem grows, demand for and circulation of the won stablecoin would rise in tandem, creating what the company describes as a virtuous cycle.

Hashed Open Finance was established to commercialize stablecoins, real-world asset tokenization (RWA) and security token offerings (STOs), the firm said.

Maroo will adopt a “dual-track” transaction model, with an “Open Path” that allows anyone to create a wallet and transact as the default route. Transactions can also be processed through a “Regulated Path” depending on factors such as identity verification status and transaction size, the company said.

The chain will include a “programmable compliance layer” that encodes key requirements — including transaction limits, KYC status and sanctions screening — and automatically evaluates them at the point of transfer. The framework is designed to be updated as laws and regulations change, Hashed Open Finance said.

Maroo will also incorporate what it calls “verifiable privacy,” enabling users to choose how much transaction information is disclosed while still allowing supervision and auditability through legal procedures when required.

The platform is being designed with an eye to a future in which artificial intelligence is an active participant in financial activity, the company added. Maroo will seek to verify the identity and scope of authority of AI agents, and provide controls such as spending limits and the ability to halt activity immediately if needed — an approach it described as “AI agent-oriented design.”

Some of the core technologies behind Maroo have already been implemented in consumer-facing services, Hashed Open Finance said. One example is “Bidanjumeoni,” a digital wallet launched last year in partnership with Busan Digital Asset Exchange (BDAN) and offered to about 4 million residents in the city.

“Maroo takes its name from the wooden hall in a traditional Korean house — an open space where inside and outside, family and guests naturally meet,” said Ho-jin Kim, chief executive officer of Hashed Open Finance. “In the same way, the Maroo chain aims to be open infrastructure where regulation and innovation, privacy and transparency can coexist.”

Kim added that “Maroo” is also a native Korean word meaning “platform,” reflecting the firm’s ambition to create a base layer on which a range of won stablecoin-powered fintech services can be launched.

“Stablecoins are emerging as a critical pillar of financial infrastructure in global markets,” said Hashed Chief Executive Officer Seo-jun Kim. “Maroo is an experiment that respects Korea‘s regulatory environment while pursuing technical openness at a global standard. We hope it becomes a foundation where banks, financial institutions and fintech companies can explore next-generation financial services together.”

최훈길 (choigiga@edaily.co.kr)