[PRESS RELEASE – SEOUL, South Korea, May 7th, 2026]
Korea’s first won-denominated public blockchain goes live with built-in regulatory compliance and native AI agent identity, integrating with Model Context Protocol (MCP), Claude skills, Gemini CLI, and Cursor. The underlying technology already powers BDAN Pocket, a digital wallet used by 4 million citizens of Busan.
Hashed Open Finance, the fintech subsidiary of global Web3 venture capital firm Hashed, today launched the public testnet for Maroo, the first sovereign Layer 1 blockchain built for Korea’s KRW stablecoin economy.
With the global stablecoin market almost entirely denominated in U.S. dollars, Maroo offers Korean banks, fintechs, and AI agents native infrastructure to transact in won-denominated digital assets. The technology underpinning Maroo already powers BDAN Pocket, a digital wallet used by 4 million citizens of Busan in partnership with the Busan Digital Asset Exchange (BDAN).
The Maroo testnet is now open to external developers, banks, fintechs, and AI builders. The launch positions Korea among the first countries to design a public blockchain around its own currency rather than the U.S. dollar.
Maroo was designed from the outset with regulatory compliance, auditability, and verifiable privacy embedded in its core, allowing banks and fintechs to launch real-world services on Maroo while preserving the openness of a public chain. The chain operates on a dual-track model: an “Open Path” available to anyone, and a “Regulated Path” for transactions that require prior verification. Both paths share the same chain, allowing Maroo to test whether everyday users and regulated financial services can coexist on a single infrastructure.
Rather than relying on after-the-fact reviews, Maroo enforces compliance as code at the moment a transaction is made. Its Programmable Compliance Layer (PCL) currently covers five core policies: KYC verification, transfer limits, blacklist filtering, time-based volume caps, and AI agent transactions. Any non-compliant transaction is blocked on-chain instantly. Policy sets can be updated through a separate pipeline, allowing the network to adapt to new laws and service policies without redesigning the core protocol.
To prepare for a future where AI agents actively participate in financial transactions, the testnet also introduces the Maroo Agent Wallet Stack (MAWS). Built 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 seamlessly with major AI developer tools, including the Model Context Protocol (MCP), Claude skills, Gemini CLI, and Cursor. To balance 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 users to participate in the network without holding volatile crypto. Beyond technical testing, Maroo offers practical scenario demos that showcase real-world utility, including KYC integration with Kakao, Korea’s leading messaging platform. Hashed Open Finance plans to introduce more advanced privacy features, including a Shielded Pool, in its next milestone later this year, with a mainnet launch to follow rigorous 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 hold unique on-chain identities and autonomously execute financial transactions within user-defined rules will be a meaningful milestone for the future of blockchain-based finance.”
“Stablecoins aren’t just another financial product — they’re the infrastructure that will define what a nation’s currency looks like in the digital age,” said Simon Kim, CEO of Hashed. “Right now, that infrastructure is being built almost entirely on top of the dollar. Maroo is a rare chance for Korea to design its own digital financial order on the foundation of the won. Our goal is to make it an open platform where anyone — banks, financial institutions, fintechs, and the new kinds of players that will emerge in the AI era — can come in and experiment with the next generation of finance.”
Start building on Maroo today. The testnet is fully open to the public. Developers can access full documentation and begin building immediately at [docs.maroo.io], with the RPC endpoint available at rpc-testnet.maroo.io and on-chain activity viewable through the block explorer at [explorer-testnet.maroo.io]. AI builders can deploy AI agent wallets through [agent.maroo.io]. End users can try compliant KRW stablecoin transactions at the demo portal [experience.maroo.io], with KYC available at [kyc-testnet.maroo.io]. Banks, fintechs, and financial institutions interested in piloting Maroo for production services or partnership opportunities are invited to contact Hashed Open Finance at [inquiry@hashedopenfinance.com].
About Hashed
Hashed partners with the founders shaping the next paradigm in blockchain, AI, and content, joining them from the earliest moments as technology redraws the boundaries of industries. Headquartered in Seoul and operating from five global hubs across San Francisco, Singapore, Bangkok, Bangalore, and Abu Dhabi, Hashed provides the capital, networks, and on-the-ground execution that help founders move beyond a single region and reach meaningful scale in global markets.
About Hashed Open Finance
Hashed Open Finance is the fintech subsidiary of Hashed, established to lead Korea’s next generation of financial innovation, starting with stablecoins. The firm works with established financial institutions and global partners to research, develop, and commercialize blockchain-based applications across stablecoins, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, and security token offerings (STOs).