[PRESS RELEASE – SEOUL, South Korea, May 7th, 2026]
Korea’s first won-denominated public blockchain launches with built-in regulatory compliance and native AI agent identity. The platform integrates with Model Context Protocol (MCP), Claude skills, Gemini CLI, and Cursor. Its technology already powers BDAN Pocket, a digital wallet used by 4 million Busan residents.
Hashed Open Finance, the fintech subsidiary of global Web3 venture capital firm Hashed, today announced the public testnet launch of Maroo, the first sovereign Layer 1 blockchain designed for Korea’s KRW stablecoin ecosystem.
With most global stablecoins denominated in U.S. dollars, Maroo provides Korean banks, fintechs, and AI agents with native infrastructure to transact in won-denominated digital assets. The same technology already underlies BDAN Pocket, a digital wallet adopted by 4 million citizens of Busan in collaboration with the Busan Digital Asset Exchange (BDAN).
The Maroo testnet is open to external developers, banks, fintechs, and AI builders. The launch places Korea among the first countries to develop a public blockchain centered on its national currency rather than the dollar.
Maroo was built from the ground up with regulatory compliance, auditability, and verifiable privacy at its core, enabling banks and fintechs to deploy real-world services while maintaining the openness of a public chain. The network uses a dual-path model: an “Open Path” accessible to anyone, and a “Regulated Path” for transactions that require prior verification. Both paths share the same ledger, allowing Maroo to evaluate how everyday users and regulated financial services can coexist on a single infrastructure.
Instead of relying on after-the-fact reviews, Maroo enforces compliance in real time. Its Programmable Compliance Layer (PCL) currently implements five primary policies: KYC verification, transfer limits, blacklist filtering, time-based volume caps, and AI agent transaction controls. Non-compliant transactions are blocked on-chain at the moment of execution. Policy sets can be updated through a separate governance pipeline, enabling the network to adapt to new laws and service requirements without redesigning the core protocol.
Anticipating a future where AI agents actively participate in finance, the testnet introduces the Maroo Agent Wallet Stack (MAWS). Based on the ERC-8004 standard, MAWS assigns each AI agent a unique on-chain identity. Agents can execute transactions autonomously but only within user-defined permissions and limits. MAWS integrates with major AI developer tools, including the Model Context Protocol (MCP), Claude skills, Gemini CLI, and Cursor. To balance agent autonomy with user control, users can instantly revoke permissions if abnormal behavior is detected.
On the testnet, transaction fees are paid in OKRW, a KRW-denominated test token, allowing participants to use the network without holding volatile cryptocurrency. Beyond technical testing, Maroo provides practical demos that demonstrate real-world use cases, including KYC integration with Kakao, Korea’s leading messaging platform. Hashed Open Finance plans to add advanced privacy features—such as a Shielded Pool—in a future milestone this year, followed by a mainnet launch after thorough security audits.
“In this testnet, we have translated the core design from our January litepaper into a live network environment,” said Hojin Kim, CEO of Hashed Open Finance. “A framework where AI agents have unique on-chain identities and can autonomously execute financial transactions within user-defined rules is an important milestone for the future of blockchain-based finance.”
“Stablecoins aren’t just another financial product — they form the infrastructure that will shape a nation’s currency in the digital age,” said Simon Kim, CEO of Hashed. “Today, that infrastructure is built largely on the dollar. Maroo offers Korea a rare opportunity to design its own digital financial architecture on the foundation of the won. Our aim is to create an open platform where banks, financial institutions, fintechs, and the new players emerging in the AI era can experiment with the next generation of finance.”
Start building on Maroo today. The testnet is fully open to the public. Developers can access documentation and begin building immediately. The RPC endpoint, block explorer, AI agent wallet deployment, and user demo portals are available for testers and developers to explore and use. Banks, fintechs, and financial institutions interested in piloting Maroo for production services or partnerships are invited to contact Hashed Open Finance for further information.
About Hashed
Hashed partners with founders shaping the next paradigm in blockchain, AI, and content, supporting projects from their earliest stages as technology reshapes industries. Headquartered in Seoul with global hubs across San Francisco, Singapore, Bangkok, Bangalore, and Abu Dhabi, Hashed provides capital, networks, and operational support to help teams scale across regions and into global markets.
About Hashed Open Finance
Hashed Open Finance is the fintech arm of Hashed, established to lead Korea’s next generation of financial innovation, beginning with stablecoins. The firm collaborates with financial institutions and global partners to research, develop, and commercialize blockchain applications in stablecoins, real-world asset tokenization, and security token offerings.