Woofun AI reports that the Bank of Korea is scheduled to initiate the second phase of Project Hangang, its wholesale central bank digital currency pilot, in September. This expansion increases participant banks from seven to nine, incorporating Kyongnam Bank and iM Bank alongside existing institutions. The upcoming stage introduces peer-to-peer transfers, biometric authentication, and automated deposit token transfers, while also testing government subsidy disbursements via tokenized bank deposits. Merchants with partnership agreements may also join the program. The preceding phase, conducted from April to June 2025, involved approximately 81,000 participants who executed 114,880 transactions using deposit tokens on the blockchain-based settlement layer.