Dollar-backed stablecoins can push local currencies lower, Bank of Korea study finds

# Dollar-backed stablecoins can push local currencies lower, Bank of Korea study finds

> Evidence tier: B1
> Evidence type: Independent digital-asset report corroborated by the Bank of Korea's primary issue note
> Source: [CoinDesk](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/09/05/dollar-backed-stablecoins-can-push-local-currencies-lower-bank-of-korea-study-finds)
> Published: 2026-09-05
> Captured: 2026-09-06T01:41:56.142Z

## Source summary

CoinDesk reports on a Bank of Korea study by Jihyun Kim and Sangheum Cho that examines Binance's introduction of fiat-to-USD-stablecoin pairs across 12 currencies, with pairing dates from 2019 to 2025. After a pair was introduced, local stablecoin premiums fell by about 0.33 to 0.38 percentage points, stablecoins flowed from Binance toward local exchanges when local premiums were higher, and stronger stablecoin buying pressure was associated with depreciation of the paired local currencies. Korea, which had no direct Binance won-stablecoin pair in the study, showed no significant exchange-rate response; buying pressure was reflected mainly in the local stablecoin premium.

## Why it matters

The study identifies a market-structure channel through which stablecoin demand can reach conventional FX markets when global intermediaries can directly intermediate a fiat-stablecoin pair. A separate weekly-data test associated a one-standard-deviation increase in Bitcoin searches, used as a proxy for investment demand, with a 0.118% depreciation of the Brazilian real and a 0.109-percentage-point increase in Brazil's stablecoin premium. These are empirical associations in a research study, not proof that every stablecoin purchase causes currency depreciation, and they do not establish a new payment rail, merchant adoption, cross-border payment volume or measured settlement improvement. The findings are most relevant to FX-liquidity, on/off-ramp and regulatory design decisions.

## Key numbers

- **Currencies in the cross-exchange sample:** 12
- **Stablecoin-premium change after Binance pairing:** -0.33 to -0.38 percentage points
- **Brazilian-real change associated with a one-standard-deviation rise in Bitcoin searches:** -0.118%
- **Brazilian stablecoin-premium change in the same test:** +0.109 percentage points

## Topics and entities

- Industry lane: Web3 & stablecoin payments
- Entities: Bank of Korea / Binance
- Web3 payments
- Cross-border payments

## Evidence and credibility note

Independent CoinDesk report, which discloses AI assistance and editorial review, corroborated by the Bank of Korea's September 3 issue note. The primary study supports the stated market-structure mechanism and empirical associations; it does not establish universal causation, a live payment product, merchant adoption or measured cross-border settlement outcomes.

Date evidence: Automatically verified from JSON-LD datePublished: 2026-09-05T16:43:13.911Z

## First-party corroboration

- [https://www.bok.or.kr/eng/bbs/B0000354/view.do?depth=400409&menuNo=400409&nttId=11064406&programType=newsDataEng&relate=Y](/en/items/https://www.bok.or.kr/eng/bbs/B0000354/view.do?depth=400409&menuNo=400409&nttId=11064406&programType=newsDataEng&relate=Y)

## Original-source traceback

[Open the original CoinDesk report](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/09/05/dollar-backed-stablecoins-can-push-local-currencies-lower-bank-of-korea-study-finds)

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This is a structured Payments Hot Markdown source summary derived from external reporting. Use the original link above to read the publisher's article; copyright remains with the original publisher.