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Shinhan Card, one of South Korea's largest credit card companies with 28 million cardholders and roughly 200 trillion won ($145 billion) in annual transaction volume, has officially entered into a strategic partnership with the Solana Foundation.
On April 30, the two organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on stablecoin payment models and expand Web 3.0 financial services using the Solana blockchain.
The agreement was finalized at Shinhan Card's headquarters in Seoul. The signing ceremony featured Kim Young-il, Executive Vice President of Shinhan Card, and Lu Yin, Head of APAC for the Solana Foundation.
This collaboration marks a significant move to bridge traditional banking with decentralized technology.
South Korea is one of the world's most crypto-active nations
South Korea is among the most crypto-active countries on the planet.
Over 18 million South Koreans — more than a third of the population — are active in digital assets.
Stablecoins already account for 47.3% of the country's total cryptocurrency outflows, with 26.87 trillion won in stablecoin transfers recorded in Q1 2025 alone.
In April 2026, South Korea proposed its Digital Asset Basic Act, a comprehensive crypto law with bank-style reserve rules for stablecoins, requiring 100% or more reserves held at banks or approved institutions.
The bill also plans to allow digital asset spot ETFs within 2026, following the U.S. and Hong Kong. Eight of the country's top banks are planning to launch a won-pegged stablecoin by year-end to reduce dollar reliance.
Testing real-world payment scenarios
Following a successful pilot program completed last year — which included six separate proof-of-concept projects and produced a working programmable-money smart contract design — Shinhan Card plans to conduct an advanced Proof of Concept throughout 2026.
This phase will leverage Solana's high-performance infrastructure to test actual payment scenarios between merchants and customers on a test network. The goal is to evaluate transaction speeds, network stability, and the overall experience for the end user.
A major part of the research will focus on non-custodial wallets. Unlike traditional digital wallets, non-custodial versions allow users to have total ownership of their digital assets without needing a middleman. Shinhan Card will study the infrastructure needed to offer these tools to its 28 million users in a safe and easy-to-use format.
Creating a "hybrid" financial system
The project aims to build a "Hybrid Finance Model" that combines the established trust of traditional finance (TradFi) with the efficiency and transparency of decentralized finance (DeFi).
To achieve this, Shinhan Card intends to use "oracle" technology — which acts as a secure data bridge connecting real-world transaction data to the blockchain. This setup will allow the use of smart contracts, which are pieces of self-executing code that automatically handle the terms of a contract once certain conditions are met.
Solana was selected for these applications due to its high transaction speeds and low costs. The network processed $650 billion in stablecoin transactions in February 2026 alone — more than doubling its previous record and leading all blockchains for the month.
Solana's broader APAC push
Shinhan Card is not the only traditional financial institution Solana is courting in Asia.
In February, the Solana Foundation hosted its Accelerate APAC event in Hong Kong, featuring panels with Mirae Asset, ChinaAMC, CME Group, Fireblocks, and Cumberland on tokenized securities and stablecoin payment rails.
Singapore-based StraitsX announced plans to launch its Singapore dollar (XSGD) and U.S. dollar (XUSD) stablecoins on Solana in early 2026.
MetaComp, a digital asset firm, adopted Solana as the preferred chain within its StableX Network for cross-border payments and treasury solutions across emerging economies..
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Future commercial deployment
Shinhan Card intends to use these research initiatives to strengthen its technical capabilities.
The firm will eventually evaluate how to launch these services commercially while staying in line with evolving regulations in South Korea and across the Asia-Pacific region.
Lu Yin, Head of APAC at the Solana Foundation, stated:
"By combining the trust of traditional finance with the efficiency of decentralized finance, we will help address the limitations of existing financial services, and work towards our vision of internet capital markets."
Kim Young-il, Executive Vice President of Shinhan Card, added, "Building on Solana, we plan to closely examine the practical applicability of blockchain technology and proactively explore next-generation financial models. By combining Solana's infrastructure with Shinhan Card's expertise, we will make every effort to introduce a safe and convenient payment environment in line with future regulatory developments."